• technical assistance to organizations that support local, sustainable food systems in Southern communities.

• access to intensive Community Food Systems training sessions for limited resource producers and community food system activists.

• scholarships for farmers to attend intensive training in how to transition to organic farming techniques.

• tools to limited resource farmers to advocate for better farm or food system policy on Capitol Hill.

•  Gather new insights from pioneering producers, educators, researchers, and advocates.

•  Experience innovative and successful production and marketing techniques on tours of over 35 local farms and research facilities.

•  Learn about groundbreaking advancements and discuss emerging opportunities in 40 workshops and breakouts.

•  Explore nearly 100 posters displaying cutting-edge SARE funded research and education project findings. 

Farmers and farm workers face a relatively high risk of work-related musculoskeletal injury compared to other occupations. That's because agriculture often involves highly repetitive tasks, lifting heavy loads, being in awkward positions, exposure to sustained vibration and other physical situations that are tough on the body. Organic farming often requires even more labor-intensive tasks like hand weeding, so it's essential to keep injury at bay.

Automatic pot and tray fillers help reduce worker stress and increase efficiency. Photo by Vern Grubinger

Recognizing this problem and seeking ways to prevent injury can have many positive effects. Careful attention to ergonomics can improve production efficiency, lower labor costs, reduce injury absences and turnover, and lead to lower medical costs. All this means higher profits and greater well-being for farmers, their families and their employees.

What follows are some techniques and tools that can help prevent common injuries on the farm.

Lift smart. When lifting and lowering, get a good grip on the object and keep it close to your body. Place your feet close to the load and lift slowly, smoothly and mostly by straightening the legs. Even relatively light loads lifted away from the body can create injurious stress levels on the spine.

Don't reach forward when lifting an object. Move other objects out of the way first to get to the needed items. While lifting, always rotate the body by moving the feet, rather than twisting or bending the trunk. Avoid repetitive lifting; alternate the task with other tasks, and use mechanical assistance such as lift tables, hoists, and conveyors, whenever possible.

Drive smart. Reduce exposure to vibration when driving vehicles through the use of suspension seats that have appropriate vibration-dampening characteristics. A simple, low-cost modification that can be made to older tractor seats is the addition of an air polymer-based gel seat cushion. This can reduce the vibration and discomfort that comes from riding on the tractor. These are available from companies such as Cross Gel, at www.flexgel.com or 888.435.2874.

Make sure your farm vehicles have good seat positioning and lumbar support. Vehicle seats should have the flexibility to comfortably accommodate people of different sizes and shapes. Seat cushions may be called for in older farm vehicles, too.

Adjust workstation height. When washing, sorting, packing, or labeling products, set the height of the work surface to maintain worker comfort, productivity, and health. If possible, adjust the workstation height to accommodate individual workers; otherwise, set the height to suit the average person. For lightweight items, efficient work height is halfway between wrist and elbow, measured when the arm is held down at the worker's side. For heavier items, it is slightly lower.

Could some workers use a step stool? Could some tasks be done while sitting? Consider setting up workstations so that workers move produce toward your leading hand, for example from left to right for right-handed people. That provides more control and accuracy.

Avoid stooping, kneeling, and squatting. Prolonged stooping or kneeling to harvest and weed are some of the activities that put vegetable and berry growers in one of the highest risk groups for occupational injuries. Yet, stoop labor is unavoidable on berry and vegetable farms, since the plants and soil need to be tended by hand at times. If you spend too much time stooping, kneeling, or squatting, you may experience fatigue, muscle soreness, or injuries.

READ MORE  for tools that can help avoid  unhealthy body positions in the field.

Reprinted with permission from GROWING magazine.

Negotiations over the 2008 Farm Bill are rounding the final bend. Senate and House Agriculture Committee leaders are now working out the differences between the Senate and House versions presented last year so that both chambers can vote on one unified version before the current Farm Bill extension expires on March 15. This is the last chance for family farm, conservation, good food, and rural advocates to speak up and ensure that our priorities are included and funded in the final bill!  

If the timing for final farm bill negotiations has been murky, one thing is clear: the conference committee is going to have a tough fight over which programs get financial support. Funding for several important programs hangs in the balance, including: the Organic Research and Extension Initiative, Value-Added Producer Grants, the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers, the Conservation Security Program, and Community Food Project Grants. 

We have limited time to contact Southern Representatives and Senators who have been named to the farm bill conference committee (or are likely to be named in the case of the House of Representatives) and urge them to fully fund these programs with mandatory money. Southern conferees and likely conferees include: Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Representatives Mike McIntyre (NC-7), Bob Etheridge (NC-2), Robin Hayes (NC-8), Jo Bonner (AL-1), and Bob Goodlatte (VA-6). 

This is our Farm Bill. Important programs that support family farms, sustainable agriculture, rural communities, and the environment could be cut substantially; now is the time to call your legislators, especially those listed above, even if you’ve contacted them before. Tell them to support the programs that are important to you. The Capitol Switchboard is 202.224.3121. Ask for the staff person who deals with Farm Bill Issues, and tell them you want your congressperson to fund these programs in the final Farm Bill!
 For more information...

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Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, Inc. (Southern SAWG) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1991 to promote sustainable agriculture in the Southern United States.