The Agricultural Workforce Development Program (AWDP), part of Cornell Cooperative Extension at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is a treasure trove of timely human resource management information for the agriculture community. Their mission to help farms and agribusinesses build committed and effective teams who will carry out the important work of feeding the world, is particularly relevant during this COVID-19 pandemic. The agribusiness community can take advantage of several aspects of this program, particularly the wealth of information pertaining to COVID-19’s impact on the workplace. Richard Stup, the program’s director, has distinguished himself as a nationally recognized expert on human resource issues throughout the agricultural community and he has stepped up to the plate during this pandemic. The following information, directly from AWDP’s website, can guide you through current materials as you seek the necessary information to managing through this new world of COVID-19.
Stay Diligent to Prevent COVID-19 Outbreaks in Farms
According to a recent article in Politico, some Florida counties are seeing positive coronavirus tests among farm workers of greater than 50%. As the season progresses in the Northeast, more workers will arrive and increase the population density of farms and in worker housing. Some workers will arrive from states like Florida and North Carolina, possibly bringing the virus with them. This reinforces the need for farms to diligently keep up COVID-19 prevention and control procedures, to train all newly arriving employees in these procedures, and to develop contingency plans for quarantine and isolation housing.
See the Ag Workforce website for links to resources and webinars about how to prevent COVID-19 spread on the farm: https://agworkforce.cals.cornell.edu/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/
Get help writing your mandatory Covid-19 Farm Safety Plan at this site: https://agworkforce.cals.cornell.edu/ny-forward-business-safety-plan/