Ag Health Academy
This is the third tier of educational resources for those wanting to learn about protecting the safety and health of agricultural workers. This educational program consists of participating in 12 months of interactive webinars on focused topics relevant to today’s hazards on Midwest farms. Once you complete the application below, you will be invited to participate in the next cycle of the Academy.
Ag Health Academy Learning Community
This community provides advanced training on health and safety hazards and prevention in agriculture, building on basics covered in Ag Health 101 and the Intermediate Ag Health courses or in other 40-hour Ag Safety & Health Core Courses offered around the country. Click here to learn how to apply to be a member of the Ag Health Academy.
Those admitted to the academy will be invited to attend virtual meetings. These sessions are designed to help this community learn about important hazards and interventions, with presentation and discussions led by experts on the month’s health and safety topic. Academy members will receive certificates of completion once 10 sessions are attended and associated “assignments” are completed.
Instructions for Attending a Live Course
The 90-minute courses are scheduled for the second Wednesday of every month at 1 pm (Eastern), 12 pm (Central), 11 am (Mountain), and 10 am (Pacific). Instructions for registering for the academy are at https://gpcah.public-health.uiowa.edu/ag-academy-apply/. Once registered, you will receive an email with instructions for logging on to sessions. Log in with the name and email you provided in your Academy application (which is also where you receive your email).
Each session consists of 60-minutes of presentation followed by 30 minutes of question-and-answer discussions with the presenters and audience. The sessions will be recorded so that the speaker presentations can be shared with others; the Q&A discussion recordings will not be shared, but discussion information may be used to identify additional course content or resources needed based on comments from the community.
At some time during the live session, members will be asked to post information in the chat box to verify attendance. Some sessions have post-meeting follow-up assignments to demonstrate knowledge, which will be communicated in the session, with links provided in the chat box.
Please email cph-greatplainscenter@uiowa.edu with questions.
2026 Ag Health Academy Sessions
In 2026, these 90-minute meetings are held at Noon central on the second Wednesday of each month. Register to receive zoom link and supporting materials prior to the session.
Machine Safety – Three Part Series (January – March)
Our region’s farmers have indicated a need for more technical assistance with machine safety. The GPCAH has developed a three-part series to help our Ag Health Academy members understand the risks and help communicate risk and prevent injuries that are associated with ¼ of all emergency room visits for our region’s farmers. In these sessions, we will cover specific technical details first and then work together as a group to apply lessons to the practice of agricultural safety and health.
1. Machine Safety Basics (January 14)
Our first session will focus on the basics of machine hazards. We will start with safety basics, including data on how farmers are getting hurt in general, building the case for why we are focusing on Machine Safety. Next, we will review hazardous motions and actions of machinery and then relate these to specific farm equipment to improve attendee’s skills in hazard recognition. Our hands-on activity will walk us through a video at a grain bin to discuss machine hazards that you see. You will be asked to identify and discuss:
- What machine hazard(s) did you see?
- What are possible injuries that could occur? Can you find any evidence of these injuries, for example news stories / Google?
- What ideas do you have to reduce the risk for workers? Family members?
- How likely do you think it would be for your solution to be adopted?
- Discuss effectiveness: would your solution reduce probability of occurrence or severity of outcome?
2. Machine Safeguarding (February 11)
The second session will build on what we learned about hazards and discuss four categories of machine safeguards and talk about tools available to assess optimal (required) design. We will review machine guarding checklists (and have you grab a screen shot) and then evaluate some guards using the checklist. When we return, we will walk through additional on-farm equipment and perform “virtual inspections” of guards. We will also send folks on a hunt for a machine safeguarding checklist to build your references on this topic.
3. Lockout – Tagout (LOTO) for Machine Safety (March 11)
Our third conversation on machine safety focuses on making sure we have put equipment into a zero-energy state before we enter into a confined space or perform work on equipment without guards. We will focus on the components of a LOTO program, to help attendees understand (1) why we need to consider all forms of hazardous energy and not just electricity and moving machines, (2) the steps to take in any LOTO process (and why), (3) simple tools that are available to lock out hazardous energy sources. Before we walk through our case study, we will illustrate several operations that involve grain transfer, and have you consider machine hazards (part 1), understand guards that are/should be in place (part 2), and other energies to consider for LOTO in these operations (part 3). Then, we will gather together to walk through a real case (see here) involving some of this equipment so we can use what we learned to discuss critical components of a LOTO system that could have prevented this fatal injury.
Pesticides and Personal Protective Equipment: Two-Part Series (April-May)
April 7: PPE Selection for Pesticide Handling: Part 1
May 12: PPE Selection for Pesticide Handling: Part 2
Respirator Selection: Two-Part Series (June – July)
June 10: RP Definitions, Selection and Practice with Dusts: Part 1
July 8: RP Selection practice and Practical Tips: Part 2
August 12: Gas Monitor Updates
Archived Meetings
Previous Ag Health Academy courses have been recorded for those unable to attend. Click the button below to view these videos.
Topics for Future Ag Health Academy
Topics we are considering for future Ag Health Academies included the following, which were suggested by alumni of the 40-hour Ag Safety and Health Core Course:
- Children’s Safety on the Farm
- Driving on Rural Roads: Updates on Interventions
- Emergency Response Programs: Novel Programs to Motivate Farmers
- First Aid on the Farm: Preparation
- Managing Safety on the Farm
- Mental Health: Farmer Risk Factors and Resources
- Personal Fall Arrest Systems and Extrication Methods
- Sleep and Fatigue: Impacts on Health and Safety on the Farm
- Updates on Ergonomics
- Zoonoses
Once you have completed your application, check your email for instructions on accessing the web site to participate in the Ag Health Academy.
For information on the other components of our Ag Safety & Health Core Courses, click the button below: