After offering safety and health education programming across North America for more than 25 years, the Progressive Agriculture Foundation is getting creative for the sake of safety.

Like most organizations, the foundation had an unexpected shakeup when Coronavirus hit the United States.

Jana Davidson, education content specialist, said what separates their programming from other groups is that staff help deliver hands-on activities for youth with key messages about mental and physical safety to take home to their families.

“We do it in a really unique way,” Davidson said. “We’re not there to lecture. We’re there to give them an experience.”

With hundreds of Progressive Agriculture Safety Days scheduled for 2020, dozens are forced to postpone in the pandemic.

“This is our busiest season,” Davidson said. “April and May, that’s when we're going to see a majority of our safety days happen.”

Rather than let their messages quietly settle, staff developed “Daily Learning Drops.” Every day at 12 p.m. EDT, they release safety and health activity videos on Facebook showcasing content actually used during hands-on training. The videos are available for all families seeking education at home.

“I think safety and health are many times, it's sad to stay, pushed to the back burner,” Davidson said. “Now that we have time, let's really focus on that and sharing some of those lessons.”

The topics cover anything from proper hand washing to chemical, blind spot, grain and water safety.

A new chapter being released focuses on mental well-being and stress management. Some ideas in that programming are to help children build stress balls while speaking through ways to cope with everything that is happening.

“Some of us who really enjoy being out, maybe we're missing our favorite sports,” Davidson said. “Maybe we're missing our friends at school or at work. We're feeling some extra stress, and so are the children. This is a really good time to talk about some coping strategies.”

Davidson added while parents may try to keep the pressures of running a farm or business away from children, they are often aware of what is happening in a household.

“They're very perceptive,” she said. “They feel what mom and dad are feeling as well.”

The reminder of safety also comes at a time when schools are closed, so more farm children will be home during a busy planting season than ever before.

“Kids are now available to help a little more, and what better education to be out on the farm and learning about agriculture and fostering your love of agriculture? But we want to do that in a safe and healthy way,” Davidson said.

Coordinators who have questions about rescheduling a safety day, or volunteers who would like to set up a safety day in their communities can visit the Progressive Agriculture Foundation’s website to learn more about the organization and find contact information.

Davidson said volunteers are also welcome to take part in the daily drops if they have content to share.

After offering safety and health education programming across North America for more than 25 years, the Progressive Agriculture Foundation is getting creative for the sake of safety.
Like most organizations, the foundation had an unexpected shakeup when Coronavirus hit the United States.
Jana Davidson, education content specialist, said what separates their programming from other groups is that staff help deliver hands-on activities for youth with key messages about mental and physical safety to take home to their families.
&ldquo;We do it in a really unique way,&rdquo; Davidson said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not there to lecture. We&rsquo;re there to give them an experience.&rdquo;
With hundreds of Progressive Agriculture Safety Days scheduled for 2020, dozens are forced to postpone in the pandemic.
&ldquo;This is our busiest season,&rdquo; Davidson said. &ldquo;April and May, that&rsquo;s when we're going to see a majority of our safety days happen.&rdquo;
Rather than let their messages quietly settle, staff developed &ldquo;Daily Learning Drops.&rdquo; Every day at 12 p.m. EDT, they release safety and health activity videos on Facebook showcasing content actually used during hands-on training. The videos are available for all families seeking education at home.
&ldquo;I think safety and health are many times, it's sad to stay, pushed to the back burner,&rdquo; Davidson said. &ldquo;Now that we have time, let's really focus on that and sharing some of those lessons.&rdquo;
The topics cover anything from proper hand washing to chemical, blind spot, grain and water safety.
A new chapter being released focuses on mental well-being and stress management. Some ideas in that programming are to help children build stress balls while speaking through ways to cope with everything that is happening.
&ldquo;Some of us who really enjoy being out, maybe we're missing our favorite sports,&rdquo; Davidson said. &ldquo;Maybe we're missing our friends at school or at work. We're feeling some extra stress, and so are the children. This is a really good time to talk about some coping strategies.&rdquo;
Davidson added while parents may try to keep the pressures of running a farm or business away from children, they are often aware of what is happening in a household.
&ldquo;They're very perceptive,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;They feel what mom and dad are feeling as well.&rdquo;
The reminder of safety also comes at a time when schools are closed, so more farm children will be home during a busy planting season than ever before.
&ldquo;Kids are now available to help a little more, and what better education to be out on the farm and learning about agriculture and fostering your love of agriculture? But we want to do that in a safe and healthy way,&rdquo; Davidson said.
Coordinators who have questions about rescheduling a safety day, or volunteers who would like to set up a safety day in their communities can visit the Progressive Agriculture Foundation&rsquo;s website to learn more about the organization and find contact information.
Davidson said volunteers are also welcome to take part in the daily drops if they have content to share.

Join Pam Jahnke for the latest farm news. Heard daily on WOZN 96.7 FM and 1670 AM in Madison Wisconsin from 5-6am. Also heard on affiliate stations all over Wisconsin.

Join Pam Jahnke for the latest farm news. Heard daily on WOZN 96.7 FM and 1670 AM in Madison Wisconsin from 5-6am. Also heard on affiliate stations all over Wisconsin.

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