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.

The 90-minute courses are scheduled for the third 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.

May 21, 2025, 12:00 – 1:30 pm Central Time

Objective: This interactive session provides updates on dementia and farmers.  At the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Understand rates of dementia in the agricultural workforce
• Understand the impacts that a family member with dementia can have on farm operations
• Identify specific dementia-related changes that may result in injury risk on the farm
• Understand key considerations for farming injury prevention programming when someone on the farm has dementia
• Identify resources available for dementia caregivers of farm family members.

Click here for dementia agenda and for more information, including discussion questions to prepare for the post-presentation discussion

Presenters: Kanika Arora, Associate Professor at the University of Iowa’s Dept. of Health Management and Policy in the College of Public Health and Julie Bobitt, Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Department of Medicine, both involved in a NIOSH-funded project that is developing and testing tools to improve Farm Safety for Rural Families Coping with Dementia.

For those not enrolled in the Ag Health Academy, we are opening registration for the Dementia Session for all who are interested. Click the button below to register.  

June 18, 2025, 12-1:30 pm Central Time

Objective: As summer gets going on the farm, we want to update Ag Health Academy members about pathogenic concerns on the farm. While we are still concerned about the highly pathogenic avian flu (H5N1) and swine flu (H1N1) and other concerns for livestock, there are some persistent pathogenic concerns we want to highlight this month. At the end of the session, attendees will be able to:

• Understand current risk factors and possible illness outcomes associated with animal handling in the Midwest
• Provide tips for healthy animal handling, including at agritourist venues
• Understand rabies and tick-borne disease concerns for this summer’s season
• Know resources available to guide farmers to safe practices and responses to exposures/illnesses from exposure to agricultural pathogens

Find agenda for session here, including discussion questions to prepare for the post-presentation discussion

Presenters: Carrie Klumb, MPH, is a senior epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Public Health in the Zoonotic Diseases unit, where she conducts surveillance of zoonotic diseases in ag workers, their families, and those exposed in agricultural settings. She will discuss healthy animal handling and provide updates on outbreaks associated with agrotourist events in her state. 

July 15, 2025, 12-1:30 pm Central Time

Previous Ag Health Academy courses have been recorded for those unable to attend. Click the button below to view these videos.  

Topics scheduled for the upcoming year include the following, which have been 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
• Equipment Safety
• First Aid on the Farm: Preparation
• Health and Safety Concerns for Agricultural Tourism Farms
• Managing Safety on the Farm
• Mental Health: Farmer Risk Factors and Resources
• Personal Fall Arrest Systems and Extrication Methods
• Pesticide Hazards: Updates
• Sleep and Fatigue: Impacts on Health and Safety on the Farm
• Updates on Ergonomics
• Zoonoses