The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine & Health/Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety in Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing based in Cooperstown, NY is conducting a farm worker health needs assessment to help them better address worker health and safety needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Read more…]
Commercial Ag Updates + Farm Food Safety
Rutgers Cooperative Extension Ag Agents provide updates on what they see in the field, upcoming events, and other important news that affects your operation, such as developments in on-farm Food Safety. Subscribe if you wish to be notified about workshops, meetings, and upcoming commercial ag events.
Subscriptions are available via EMAIL and RSS.
Don’t Let Your Guard Down With Farm Worker Health
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical, indeed essential, role of farm labor in getting food from farm to plate. However, health concerns should not stop with a negative COVID test, especially if an employee or family member is exhibiting any of the ‘flu-like’ symptoms that are associated with corona virus.
A recent farm call was a reminder that working outside, especially during this July heat wave, exposes workers to a number of potential health risks that may present very similar symptoms and can be equally health, and even life, threatening. Recently published studies from the Rutgers Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences suggest growing numbers of people worldwide are at risk of heat stress and related complications, including farmers and ag laborers working in high heat and humid conditions.
Harvesting and other activities along field edges, including going into the woods instead of using a portable bathroom facilities, also lead to a high risk of tick bites, which can also carry a number of diseases, many as or more debilitating than Lyme disease that most are now aware of. A recent story at Today.com suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic might lead to more tick-borne disease this year, quoting Rutgers entomologist and assistant professor Alvaro Toledo at the Center for Vector Biology with suggestions how to prevent tick bites.
It is critical for your employees’ health and well-being to get proper diagnosis and treatment for all of these ailments. This table illustrates how many tick-born diseases, as well as heat stress, all have potential symptoms very similar to those of COVID-19. Each is linked to additional resources at the CDC. In many cases, it may be the ‘other symptoms’ that may be unique to each disease and assist a medical practitioner with correct identification and lead to better verification with further testing.
Disease > Symptoms v |
COVID-19 | Heat Stress | Lyme Disease | Ehrlichiosis | Babe- biosis | Powas-san | Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever |
Vector* | Human | Black-legged Tick (a.k.a. Deer Tick) (I. scapularis) | Lone Star Tick (A. americanum) & Black-legged | Black-legged Tick | Ground hog(I. cookei), Squirrel (I. marxi) & Black-legged Ticks | American Dog Tick (D. variabilis) | |
Fever or chills | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Cough | X | X | |||||
Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing | X | ||||||
Fatigue | X | X | X | X | |||
Muscle/body aches | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
Headache | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
New loss of taste or smell | X | ||||||
Sore throat | X | ||||||
Congestion or runny nose | X | ||||||
Nausea/vomiting | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Diarrhea | X | X | |||||
Rash | X | X | X | ||||
Other symptoms | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
Potentially Deadly/Disabling |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
*NOTE – main vector listed, but many tick born diseases may be vectored by other species of ticks, or different species causing same disease may be carried by different tick species.
Make Sure Your Farm or Ranch Counts – And is Counted!
Did you know that according to the 2019 State Agriculture Overview for NJ, 3,900 acres of peaches yielded 5/tons per acre at a value of over $25.6 million dollars? Or that 3,500 acres of peppers were harvested in 2019, with a value of $45.8 million dollars? Or that 9,300 acres of harvested blueberries were valued at $85.3 million dollars in 2019? And in 2018, NJ ranked 4th nationwide in cranberry and peach production, and third in bell peppers?
Hackettstown Livestock Auction Results for July 14, 2020
This auction sells: lambs, sheep, goats, calves, beef cattle, pigs, rabbits, and all types of heavy fowl. Auctions are held every Tuesday with the first sale beginning at 10:30 am and ending with the last sale at 5:30 pm. Hay, straw, grain, and firewood are also for sale.
Hackettstown Livestock Auction
Farm Fresh Eggs available for purchase by the case (30 doz.) or by the flat (2&1/2 doz.) in the main office Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. Also available some Monday’s and Friday’s but please call office first (908)-852-0444.
Click for auction results:
Hackettstown Livestock Auction Results for July 14, 2020
NJ Ag & Health Urge Use of Free COVID-19 Testing For Farm Workers
Earlier this week, NJ Secretary of Ag Douglas Fisher released this attached letter, co-signed by Dept of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, urging all growers with farm labor to take advantage of opportunities to help protect your employees from COVID-19.
As the letter states,
“One program that is being implemented FREE OF CHARGE for all farms is a COVID-19 testing and education program through Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and local health departments. Along with free testing, the program provides education and other related support services. [Read more…]
UPDATE – NJ Motor Vehicle Commission: Changes and Extensions, Effective July 9th
With all the difficulties customers faced with NJMVC service centers opening on July 7th, changes have been made in the processes when visiting facilities. Also, note some centers will have Saturday hours and the state has taken some NJMVC employees of furloughs to service the public. Check the NJMVC website for hours, what services are offered at certain centers, and updated information. Below are some changes and further extensions:
1. Each morning, when opening, the NJMVC facilities will establish the total number of customers that each agency can serve that day, based on that agency’s size, staffing, and previous day’s performance. Tickets will be given out up to that number (and based on priority reason for coming to MVC – SEE NUMBER 3 below), then remaining customers not given a ticket will be required to leave the premises. As soon as capacity is met at a facility, MVC will publish if the site is filled to capacity on their website and social media.
2. People will not be allowed to sign up to wait on MVC property after capacity is reached until the next morning at 7:00 AM.
3. New drivers will be given preference at Licensing Centers. When staff go out to distribute tickets, the first tickets will be given to those who have completed requirements for a new permit or license. Already-licensed drivers (who will be able to drive under the extension) will be served after all new drivers have been served.
The following documents, if expiring between March 1 and May 31, have been extended to September 30, 2020. If expiring between June 1 and August 31, they have been extended to December 31, 2020.
• All standard driver licenses (including permits)
• Standard non-driver IDs
• Vehicle registrations
• Inspections
• Temporary tags
CDL Extensions
Expiration dates on commercial driver licenses (CDLs), commercial learner’s permits, and HAZMAT endorsements have been extended a second time, to September 30, 2020. This means expirations that were previously extended to June 30 have been extended for another three months. The extensions do not apply to documents that expired before March 1.
The extension also includes the Medical Certifications of CDL holders, as long as the medical certificates were for 90 days or more and expired after March 1.
The extensions mirror those issued recently by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which oversees CDLs, and the federal Transportation Security Administration, which oversees Hazardous Materials endorsements (HAZMAT).
Many transactions can now be conducted online. Check out the NJMVC online services to see if you need to conduct business with NJMVC online.
All customers are required to wear face coverings when visiting an agency.