The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced $300,000 in available funding to support projects that offer farm safety education and certification to youth seeking employment or already employed in agricultural production.
Established in 2001, the Youth Farm Safety Education and Certification (YFSEC) program provides instruction that leads to industry-recognized credentials for agricultural students and professionals. The program also ensures that vocational agricultural program curricula align with current career standards and agricultural safety and health regulations.
“Our farmers and ranchers and their families deserve up-to-date safety instruction resources,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “These NIFA investments help keep families safe, and give occupational health providers the gold standard for youth farm safety curricula.”
Applications are sought for projects that support national efforts to deliver timely, pertinent, and appropriate youth farm safety education. The RFA seeks to support a coordinated, national approach to agricultural safety and health education for youth. In FY 2017, the program will focus on supporting activities that will build on accomplishments made to date by the Safety in Agriculture for Youth (SAY) project. It will provide funding for three types of projects:
- SAY National Clearinghouse Project: up to $100,000 per year for up to four years to continue efforts made to date with SAY Clearinghouse, curricula submission and review, and marketing.
- YFSEC Instructor Training Project: up to $100,000 per year for up to four years to support recruitment and training of youth farm safety instructors in currently available youth farm safety curricula.
- YFSEC Youth Training Project: up to $100,000 per year for up to four years to develop, enhance, and evaluate new or existing youth farm safety curricula and youth training activities.
Information from these projects will be shared through the SAY National Clearinghouse.
Applications are due May 10, 2017. Please see the request for applications for specific program requirements.
Previous NIFA YFSEC projects include a Purdue University project to develop a national instructor training and certification program on tractor and machinery safety. Another project at Michigan State University supported the creation of an online educational safety course for youth working on equine facilities.
Many NIFA-supported resources created through this program are available in the Ag Safety and Health section of eXtension, a clearinghouse of agricultural education materials for use by agricultural students and professionals and Cooperative Extension Agents nationwide.
NIFA invests in and advances agricultural research, education, and extension and promotes transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA support for the best and brightest scientists and extension personnel has resulted in user-inspired, groundbreaking discoveries that combat childhood obesity, improve and sustain rural economic growth, address water availability issues, increase food production, find new sources of energy, mitigate climate variability and ensure food safety. To learn more about NIFA’s impact on agricultural science, visit www.nifa.usda.gov/impacts, sign up for email updates or follow us on Twitter @USDA_NIFA, #NIFAimpacts.
Share this Post