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ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
During the spring 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, faculty and staff within Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences came together from multiple disciplines to support essential agricultural workers. Concerted leadership from administration provided a framework for this interaction to occur while faculty worked off-campus to address the many issues identified by the agricultural community, the industry sector, and other state agencies. During the onset period, much of our work was reactive; our efforts to address worker safety and health involved three primary areas within: 1) production agricultural workers, 2) produce growers and direct marketing enterprises, and 3) meat supply chain workers. Communication to target audiences relied upon our ability to convert face-to-face programming into virtual webinars, social media, and digital publications. A Food System Task Force mobilized specialists to address emerging issues, with one specific topic related to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). As we continue to face new seasons in agriculture production, and pockets of COVID-19 outbreaks within our state, we will continue to address the dynamic needs of our food supply systems. There are implications for how we will teach the agricultural workforce within a virtual platform, including the evaluation of the effectiveness of those training programs. There are renewed opportunities to integrate health and safety content into other Extension teams who conventionally focused on production practices and farm management topics. Several research themes emerged during subgroup dialog to pursue new knowledge in workers’ cultural attitude and barriers, PPE design, PPE access, and overall attitude toward COVID-19 health practices.
Introduction
The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, made its way to the United States affecting many Americans. While the medical fields were quickly exhausting themselves to care for human health, agriculture slowly began dealing with their own challenges. The Land Grant University is intentionally structured and uniquely positioned to address complex agricultural needs through teaching, research, extension, and outreach1, whether the challenge be a pandemic or other complex issues such as chronic or acute food insecurity or climate change among others. In this paper, we reflect on the process faculty and staff engaged in, as they responded to the COVID-19 pandemic using a one university approach.
The Ohio State University (OSU), College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) quickly realized the need for a coordinated response to COVID-19 in the realm of agriculture. The Lean on your Land Grant COVID-19 Food System Task Force was organized consisting of 25 faculty. These experts identified areas of focus and formed six subgroups to aid Ohio with food system challenges, specifically: (1) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), (2) the Meat Supply Chain, (3) the Specialty Crop Supply Chain, (4) Food System Data and Modeling, (5) Direct Marketing, and (6) Youth and Community. A survey was offered to CFAES faculty and staff who were not task force members, as an opportunity to share observations from their communities related to food system issues and contribute ideas for how to address them.
Within CFAES, the Department of Extension provides a critical component to disseminating information to Ohio clientele through Extension specialists and educators working directly with farmers, consumers, and other food system stakeholders. All four Extension areas – Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), Family and Consumer Sciences, Community Development, and 4-H – engaged in work to support their clientele during the crisis. This commentary focuses on CFAES’s outreach specific to ANR’s safety and health concerns and provides a reflection of our collective experiences during the first 4 months of the COVID-19 outbreak.
OSU Extension personnel were adapting to the world’s “new normal” alongside their clientele to find new outreach approaches to engage their audiences. During the onset period, much of ANR’s work was reactive, with efforts to address worker safety focused in three primary areas of 1) production agricultural workers, produce growers and direct marketing enterprises, 2) meat supply chain workers, and 3) PPE.
Production agricultural workers, produce growers and direct marketing enterprises
Faced with the pandemic few farmers stopped what they were doing – or even slowed their pace – despite shutdowns in other workplaces. The most drastic change for the agricultural sector was how they utilized Extension information and accessed critical training. Hundreds of farmers lost access to mandated in-person pesticide training during government’s shut-down restrictions; these trainings were not replaced with virtual trainings until Ohio authorities gave approval in July.
ANR Extension teams worked tirelessly through virtual technology to address issues and concerns their agricultural clientele were facing. Faculty worked to inform producers about manners to continue daily operations, looking at sanitation procedures, PPE, and channels for accessing products. Resources for Amish and migrant populations addressed cultural issues for PPE, social distancing, and worker housing recommendations. Business continuity and succession planning were topics related to short- and long-term practices, with considerations for farmers falling ill or experiencing workforce reductions.
Innovative ways extension reached out to clientele included virtual coffee shops and online farm management office hours. With the loss of the March NCAA basketball tournament, our Program Director devised a bracket-style schedule for delivering virtual education called Ag Madness, mimicking the admired tournament. A variety of topics were taught each day at 9 AM, noon, and 3 PM from late March to early May, with recordings archived for later viewing. Collectively the site attracted 36,800 participants with 19,635 views; the topics specific for safety and health included agricultural noise, respiratory hazards, tractor and machinery safety, youth labor laws, COVID-19 sanitation practices for farming, and food safety for U-pick specialty crop producers. Additional programs were offered on mental health and stress, understanding workers' compensation program benefits, fitness for farm life, and AgrAbility topics involving assistive technology and gardening with a disability. Press articles and extension publications addressed heightened changes experienced in the Ag sector: childcare on the farm with children out of school, farm market and agritourism safety, coronavirus and animals, farm employee safety, and proper donning and doffing of PPE. Two CFAES websites (the Knowledge Exchange and Addressing Agricultural Challenges) provided outreach information specific to COVID-19 resources; Table 1 provides website links and examples of educational resources developed by CFAES faculty and staff.
Table 1. Examples of CFAES extension and outreach products developed to address COVID-19 topical concerns in agriculture
Meat supply chain workers
The COVID-19 crisis had a detrimental impact on the nation’s meat supply chain, specifically large-scale packers who were forced to slow their operations or close their doors. These circumstances resulted in significant pressure for small-scale meat processors to accept more food animals to process, which they were not designed nor prepared to take. Extension specialists further engaged with interested parties in starting new processing plants and answered questions from consumers. Extension specialists developed factsheets on COVID-19 concerns and were responsive to various media outlets to educate the public on meat supply chain issues (Table 1).
With the significant reduction in the number of animals processed, a tremendous amount of food animals were left with nowhere to go, causing a backup in the nation’s livestock system. Swine extension specialists tackled an influx of calls and concerns regarding the backlog of finished swine ready for market. This team released a fact sheet regarding decision-making processes for appropriate safety procedures in emergency depopulation scenarios (Table 1).
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Amidst the many topics addressed during the onset of COVID-19, respiratory protection was a focus. Occupational safety extension specialists participated in national industry task forces to collaborate with other professionals to source N-95 respirators for chemical applicators and grain elevators in Ohio. Meat extension specialists were called to assist small-scale meat processors in the importance of using PPE, specifically masks for employees. The CFAES PPE sub-group had focused dialog on PPE design, access, barriers of use and cultural attitudes, and attitudes toward COVID-19 health practices. Through their discussion, opportunities for PPE advancements were identified for three areas:
An immediate response was to secure PPE for essential agricultural workers. Even with PPE, large spread outbreaks continued, especially in meat processing facilities. As we saw in Ohio, tools and solutions can be provided in response to a pandemic, but if people do not use or accept them, the solutions are useless. A workforce survey was developed to understand meat processor behaviors and attitudes toward wearing masks. Analyzed results will guide future recommendations for employers, as well as be incorporated into redesigning new masks to be more “user friendly.” While this initial survey concentrated on meat processors, replication with other industry sectors is underway, including produce, nursery, landscape, greenhouse, and grain elevator workforces. Further opportunity exists to replicate the survey among our youth, families, and returning college students.
Faculty experts in polymer science began collaborating with the Mayo Clinic in developing a new mask, that are more friendly to wear and offers an alternative to other respiratory protection (Figure 1)2. The non-woven fabric comprised of bio-compatible rubber composite is flexible, breathable, and water repellant. The rubbery fabric can be made into comfortable-fitting masks that do not allow sneeze particles through, avoids moisture build-up during normal use and breathing, and can be used in hot humid conditions as well as in a freezer. The product can be easily sterilized in water-based solutions for reuse and can be recycled for new mask production.
The Ohio 4-H youth development program integrated the use of “communicator” style masks3 (masks with the clear section over the mouth for the hearing impaired to read lips) (Figure 1). Communicator masks have wider application for other Extension programs to ensure accessibility is maintained for all clientele during COVID-19.
Lessons learned from the challenges and opportunities highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic
It is often difficult for large institutions to rapidly shift course. However, COVID-19 required rapid responses from CFAES experts to address the immediate needs of agricultural producers and food system stakeholders in Ohio. Using the principles of adaptive management, the task force and subgroup members had to develop new approaches to meet the ever-changing issues that continue to manifest. In this final section, we review and reflect on both the success and the limitations we faced in responding to issues connected to food and agriculture.
• Learning new methods for virtual outreach education and farmer engagement was a shift from our traditional in-person delivery approach. Ohio ranks 24th in the country for overall broadband access 4 making Internet access with our clientele a challenge. Statewide Internet infrastructure must be addressed otherwise an increased reliance on radio or TV venues may be needed to reach rural clientele.
• Occupational safety and health concepts were amplified across agricultural sectors, even those that typically focus on production practices. We see the opportunity to work with ANR Extension Teams to more regularly integrate health and safety topics into farm production and management programs.
• Having family members of all ages on stay at home orders creates the need for agricultural safety professionals to address safe play areas, age-appropriate tasks, and the needs of senior farmers.
• Mental health and farm stress management are emergent program areas for land grant institutions to address, especially as agricultural communities, families, and youth wrestle with the impacts of COVID-19 on the food supply chain and overall resilience within their social structures.
• Prior to the pandemic, localized natural disasters were typical emergencies addressed in state or county disaster planning, which differed greatly to the response needed from a wide-scale COVID-19 disruption of the food and agriculture system. Opportunities exist to strengthen the collaboration and relationships between land grant universities and state agencies to holistically and systematically address the public health concerns as they overlap with food supply chain issues and affect essential agricultural workforces.
As on the ground situations evolve, we continue to respond, assess, re-assess, and adapt our approach to meeting the needs of agricultural producers and food system stakeholders. Above all we have learned that no one individual or department can address the complexity of the challenges brought about by COVID-19, we can only be successful by working in community and partnership with honesty, transparency, and trust.
Published online:
13 October 2020Figure 1. Graphics of two masks: (a) – Safenclear CommunicatorTM Mask, (b) – Rubber-based polymer mask prototype
![]({"type":"image","src":"/na101/home/literatum/publisher/tandf/journals/content/wagr20/2020/wagr20.v025.i04/1059924x.2020.1815623/20210517/images/medium/wagr_a_1815623_f0001_oc.jpg"})
Figure 1. Graphics of two masks: (a) – Safenclear CommunicatorTM Mask, (b) – Rubber-based polymer mask prototype
| CFAES Unit/Author Team | Resource Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Ag Crisis Task Force Knowledge Exchange | Addressing Agricultural Challenges, https://u.osu.edu/2019farmassistance/home/ KX COVID-10 HUB, http://kx.osu.edu/covid-19 |
| Webinars | Extension ANR | Ag Madness https://agnr.osu.edu/events/agriculture-and-natural-resources-madness Titles include: On the Farm Preparations for COVID-19 presenters Dr. Dee Jepsen and Lisa Pfeifer from the Ag Safety & Health Program Producer Safety Chat presenters Dr. Sanja Ilic and Dr. Melanie Ivey and OSU Extension Produce Safety Team Food Safety & COVID-19 for Consumers presenter Dr. Sanja Ilic Operating a U-Pick Operation with COVID-19 presenters Dr. Sanja Ilic and Dr. Melanie Ivey and OSU Extension Produce Safety Team Stress Management Tips & Resources presenters Farm & Rural Health Task Force leaders Pesticide Safety presenter Pesticide Safety Education Program Director Dr. Mary Ann Rose. |
| Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention | Food Safety, Everyone’s Business: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Safety Systems, presented by Dr. Barbara Kowalcyk (center director), https://foodsafety.osu.edu/education-and-training/webinars/webinar-food-safety-everyone%E2%80%99s-business-impact-covid-19-pandemic | |
| Factsheets | Veterinary Extension | Questions Regarding the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Farms with Employees, authors Dr. Gustavo M. Schuenemann and Dr. Jeffrey D. Workman https://kx-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/2020-03/COVID-19_Handout_ENGLISH.pdf Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 and Animals, authors Dr. Gustavo M. Schuenemann, Dr. Andrew Bowman, Dr. Jeanette O’Quin, Dr. Jeffrey D. Workman https://kx-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/2020-04/COVID-19%20%20Livestock_Handout_FINAL_ENGLISH.pdf |
| Ag Safety & Health Program | Navigating COVID-19 on the Farm, authors Dr. Dee Jepsen and Lisa Pfeifer, https://agsafety.osu.edu/sites/agsafety/files/imce/NavigatingCOVID-19_OnTheFarm_0.pdf Agritourism Guidance for Ohio Operations during COVID-19, Eric Barrett, Rob Leeds, Peggy Hall, Dee Jepsen, Lisa Pfeifer, Christie Welch and Brad Bergefurd, https://agsafety.osu.edu/program-areas/covid-19-resources-farmers | |
| Meat Science Extension | Talking Points: COVID-19’s Effect on the Meat Supply, authors Dr. Lyda G Garcia, (OSU), Dr. Gregg Rentfrow (UK), and Dr. Jonathan Campbell (PSU), https://meatsci.osu.edu/sites/meatsci/files/imce/Talking Points Impacts of COVID 19 on Meat Industry.pdf Buying from a Local Meat Processor and Why it Matters, authors Dr. Lyda G Garcia and Dr. Lynn Knipe, https://meatsci.osu.edu/sites/meatsci/files/imce/Why%20Buying%20Local%20Matters%205.20.pdf | |
| Popular Press and Other COVID-19 Resources | Ohio Country Journal | Embracing young family workers and teaching farm safety during the COVID summer, authors Dr. Dee Jepsen and Dr. Shoshanah Inwood, https://www.ocj.com/2020/05/embracing-young-family-workers-and-teaching-farm-safety-during-the-covid-summer/ |
| Ohio Ag Manager blog articles | COVID-19 – Impacts on Ohio’s Swine Industry, author Dr. Steve Moeller, https://u.osu.edu/ohioagmanager/2020/04/21/covid-19-impacts-on-ohios-swine-industry/ Navigating COVID-19 on the Farm – Best practices for Daily Management of Sanitation, Deliveries, Equipment Repairs, and People, authors Lisa Pfeifer and Dr. Dee Jepsen https://u.osu.edu/ohioagmanager/2020/04/23/navigating-covid-19-on-the-farm-best-practices-for-daily-management-of-sanitation-deliveries-equipment-repairs-and-people/ | |
| Pesticide Safety Education Program | Proper Donning and Doffing of PPE, Program Director Dr. Mary Ann Rose, https://pested.osu.edu/safety/ppe PPE Shortages for Pesticide Applicators, author Dr. Mary Ann Rose, https://u.osu.edu/psep/2020/04/14/ppe-shortages-for-pesticide-applicators/ | |
| Fruit and Vegetable Safety Program | Webinars and fact sheets related to worker, customer, and food safety, team leads Dr. Sanja Ilic and Dr. Melanie Ivey, https://producesafety.osu.edu/covid-19 | |
| Direct Marketing Program | Webinars and fact sheets related to worker and customer safety participating in direct markets, program specialist Christie Welch https://southcenters.osu.edu/direct-marketing/covid-19-webinars-and-resources | |
| Ohio AgrAbility Program | Tips for Caregivers during a Pandemic, https://agrability.osu.edu/caregiver-support-network/health-tips-caregivers/caregiving-during-pandemic-or-illness | |
| CFAES news articles | Ohio State offers tips for vendors, consumers when shopping at farmers markets amid COVID-19, authors Tracy Turner, with information provided by Dr. Shoshanah Inwood and Christie Welch, https://cfaes.osu.edu/news/articles/ohio-state-offers-tips-for-vendors-consumers-when-shopping-farmers-markets-amid-covid Where’s the beef … pork … chicken … lamb?, author Alayna DeMartini, with information provided by Dr. Lyda Garcia, https://cfaes.osu.edu/news/articles/where’s-the-beef- … -pork- … -chicken- … -lamb |
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
References
- APLU (Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. What is a land-grant university. Washington, DC; 2020. https://www.aplu.org/about-us/history-of-aplu/what-is-a-land-grant-university/ [Google Scholar]
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