Digital Commons Network^™

Propensity-Score Matching Beginning And Experienced Farmers On Stress And Coping Mechanisms To Predict Suicidal Ideation, Anne Montgomery, Stephanie M. Basey, Chris T. Scoggins, Lily Baucom

Georgia Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Conference

This presentation is an extension of a roundtable from last year; we added propensity-score matching thanks to suggestions from the roundtable:

The suicide rate among farmers is much higher than that of the overall working population. Literature on farmer mental health in Georgia has been scarce and mostly focused on farmer suicide. This study looks at the influence of being a beginning farmer (less than 10 years of experience) on farm-related stressors and coping mechanisms.

This cross-sectional study inventories mental well-being, stressors, and coping mechanisms for different types of farmers. Participants (N=1,328) were asked demographics, household composition, work descriptors, healthcare …

Gender-Based Differences In Stress And Coping Among Farmers: A Cross-Sectional Study With Propensity Score Matching, Anne Montgomery, James B. Dunaway, Stephanie M. Basey, Chris T. Scoggins, Lily R. Baucom

Georgia Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Conference

This cross-sectional study compares the mental health experiences of male and female farmers, with a particular focus on stress levels, stressors, and coping mechanisms. The research aims to shed light on gender-based differences in stress experiences and coping strategies among agricultural workers. The study involved 1,394 farmers (67.7% male, 32.3% female) from Georgia, USA, who completed an online survey on aspects of mental well-being.

Findings indicate that female farmers were more likely to hold farm manager roles and less likely to be farm owners. Notably, a higher proportion of female farmers were first-generation farmers, indicating potential unique challenges for this …

Comparison Of Private And Public Lab Fertilizer Recommendation Impacts On Field Crop Production And Soil Test Results, Megan Baker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

There are many sources that farmers utilize to determine fertilizer needs for crops such as private and public labs, crop advisors, and fertilizer dealers. In many cases, these sources provide recommendations for a specific crop that can vary greatly, which can lead to large differences in cost. An experiment was established in 2021 with 12 sites across the state of Utah in alfalfa, small grains, and corn to test and compare fertilizer recommendations from five labs. The recommendations tested were from two public labs (Utah State University and the University of Idaho) and three commercial labs located in the Western …

Growing Agriculture Literacy’S Presence In America’S Classrooms, Emily Stone

Journal of Food Law & Policy

“Americans, as a whole, were at least two generations removed from the farm and did not understand even the most rudimentary of processes, challenges, and risks that farmers and the agricultural industry worked with and met head-on every day.” This quote perfectly describes the mindset of agriculture stakeholders in 1981 as they began to realize the drastic steps our education system had taken away from using principles of agriculture in K-12 education. As they saw it, Americans were moving out of rural America, away from farms, and becoming less connected to the food they daily consumed. Simultaneously, the education system …

Investigating Swine Farm Disease Spread By A Large Agent-Based Model, Gian Cercena

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Contagious swine diseases cost billions of dollars in lost profits annually, and pose dangers to other animals, including humans. These diseases can be mitigated by biosecurity measures, but the costs for these measures have collective incentives not always reflected in individual incentive structures. We design a large scale agent-based model (ABM) of the swine industry in the United States, where agent behavior is determined by their individual economic incentives, which have collective consequences in terms of disease spread. The agents in our model include swine producers (farms), feed mills, processors, and veterinarians. By simulating various scenarios under different assumptions regarding …

One Crisis Or Two Problems? Disentangling Rural Access To Justice And The Rural Attorney Shortage, Daria F. Page, Brian R. Farrell

Washington Law Review

We have all seen the headlines: No Lawyer for Miles or Legal Deserts Threaten Justice for All in Rural America. There is a substantial body of literature, across disciplines and for diverse audiences, that looks at access to justice in rural communities and geographies. However, in both the popular and scholarly imaginations, the access to justice crisis has been largely conflated with the shortage of local attorneys in rural areas: When bar associations, lawyers, and legal academics define the problem as not enough lawyers, more lawyers become the obvious solution. Consequently, programs aimed at building pipelines from law schools …

Agricultural Research Facilities And Equipment, Brad Joyce, Purdue University Office Of Research

University General Facility Boilerplate Descriptions

This overview document describes Purdue University’s on and off-campus research facilities and key equipment related to agriculture, air and water quality, agronomy, and environmental regulation.

Shifts In N-Efficiency Of Different Farm Types In Response To Climate Change, S. Dueri, P. L. Calanca, Juerg Fuhrer

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Climate change may affect European farms, but in contrast to individual crops - the sensitivity of whole farming systems has not been the subject of much research. At the farm level, where different farm units are linked through the availability and flow of nitrogen (N), effects on individual crops are interlinked, and through shifts in grasslands and related animal production with altered nutrient flows. Ideally, N flows into the system and N-export with products should be equal, and thus N-use-efficiency (NUE), expressed as the ratio of N export to N loss, would be maximal. The objective of this study was …

Evaluating The Economic And Environmental Sustainability Of Integrated Farming Systems, C. A. Rotz, M. A. Sanderson, M. Wachendorf, F. Taube

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Economic and environmental sustainability has become a major concern for forage-based animal production in Europe, North America and other parts of the world. Development of more sustainable farming systems requires an assimilation of experimental and modelling research. Field research is critical for supporting the development and evaluation of models, and modelling is needed to integrate farm components for predicting the long-term effects and interactions resulting from farm management changes. Experimentally supported simulation provides a tool for evaluating and comparing farming strategies and predicting their effect on the watershed, region and beyond.

Long Before Gps, Leanne Shirtliffe

The Goose

Poetry by Leanne Shirtlife.

Joseph Pillion: A Career In Speech With A Stutter And Life With Dr. Van Riper, University Libraries

East Campus Oral Histories

WMU Alum Joseph Pillion meets virtually via Zoom with Cassie Kotrch to discuss his time at WMU starting in Dr. Van Riper's speech therapy to becoming a WMU student and graduating. He also shares details and memories of his time on East Campus and living with Dr. Van Riper.

Characterization Of Food Chain Clostridioides Difficile Isolates In Terms Of Ribotype And Antimicrobial Resistance, Pilar Marcos, Aoife Doyle, Paul Whyte, Thomas R. Rogers, Maire Mcelroy, Seamus Fanning, Jesus Maria Frias, Declan Bolton

Articles

The aim of this study was to characterize C. difficile isolates from the farm, abattoir, and retail outlets in Ireland in terms of ribotype and antibiotic resistance (vancomycin, erythromycin, metronidazole, moxifloxacin, clindamycin, and rifampicin) using PCR and E-test methods, respectively. The most common ribotype in all stages of the food chain (including retail foods) was 078 and a variant (RT078/4). Less commonly reported (014/0, 002/1, 049, and 205) and novel (RT530, 547, and 683) ribotypes were also detected, but at lower frequencies. Approximately 72% (26/36 tested) of the isolates tested were resistant to at least one antibiotic, with the majority …

Dirt Cheap Nutrition, Rain Delucia

Bucknell Farm

The aim of this project is to reach a range of people who are suffering from food insecurity. Food insecurity is a spectrum; people have varying access to not only food, but to related resources such as cooking equipment and knowledge. Food insecurity is a broad term since there are varying reasons as to why people cannot access food such as transportation, money, and access. In most cases food insecurity is a symptom of a much bigger issue known as poverty. The typical person struggling with food insecurity suffers from both mental and physical complications such as decline in academic …

Cafo’S Are A Public Health Crisis:The Creation Of Covid-19, Helena Masiello

University of Miami Law Review

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (“CAFO’s”) are largely unregulated by State or Federal Laws in the United States. As a result of this lack of oversight, they are a breeding ground for deadly infectious diseases. The COVID-19 epidemic has demonstrated the threat that diseases pose to the United State like H1N1, SARS, and Ebola.
The USDA needs to regulate CAFOs under the mandate given to them by congress in the AHPA to ensure that they are not the epicenter of the next wave of deadly infectious diseases. Scientists have been warning about the disease potential of CAFOs for the last decade, …

Growing Through Climate Change: Food And Farm Resiliency Post-Disaster, Sarah Quenemoen

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This research looks in the Whatcom County agriculture sector's disaster preparedness. It investigates the relationship between the farmers and the community, and looks briefly into different strategies being used or being talked about within the realm of farming and natural disasters.

The Role Of Place Attachment And Situated Sustainability Meaning-Making In Enhancing Student Civic-Mindedness: A Campus Farm Example, Brandon H. Sorge, Francesca A. Williamson, Grant A. Fore, Julia L. Angstmann

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This research explores the role that place attachment and place meaning towards an urban farm play in predicting undergraduate students’ civic-mindedness, an important factor in sustainability and social change. In 2017 and 2018, three STEM courses at a private university in the Midwest incorporated a local urban farm as a physical and conceptual context for teaching course content and sustainability concepts. Each course included a four to six-week long place-based experiential learning (PBEL) module aimed at enhancing undergraduate STEM student learning outcomes, particularly place attachment, situated sustainability meaning-making (SSMM), and civic-mindedness. End-of-course place attachment, SSMM, and civic-mindedness survey data were …

Motherism, African Women And Ecological Advocacy In Aminata Sow Fall’S L’Ex-Père De La Nation And Douceurs Du Bercail, Olubunmi O. Ashaolu

The Goose

The literary discourse of francophone Africa, has been indicted for ecocritical passivity. Yet many literary texts emanating from francophone Africa are replete with portraits of the environment. Even though Aminata Sow Fall, the Senegalese socio-realist falls within the category of authors who seek equilibrium in their treatment of African postcolonial issues, most of her works are laden with ecocritical concerns. Hidden within the literary portraits of postcolonial and environmental chaos of Africa lies Sow Fall’s projection of African problems and their alternative solution via her characters’ sensitization of ecological consciousness in readers. Through the theoretical framework of Catherine O. Acholonu’s …

The Working Landscape: Vermont Land Trust And Farmland Access In Vermont, Susanna Baxley

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

The number one challenge facing young farmers is access to land. Other challenges include rising student debt, high real estate values, health insurance costs, and discriminatory lending practices. As well, there are rising concerns that farm viability and the agricultural landscape of the US is in peril as the sector sees an "aging" farmer population, loss of farmland to development, and a decrease in the number of mid-sized "family" farms alongside a proliferation of very large industrial farms that dominate markets. Farms do more than just provide food to their communities; they are a cornerstone of rural economies and play …

Covid-19 Impacts On Vermont Farms And Food Businesses: Pivots, Needs And Opportunities For The Future, Meredith T. Niles, Farryl Bertmann, Emily H. Belarmino, Mark Cannella, David S. Conner

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

This report highlights results from a survey of Vermont farm and food businesses conducted during August and September 2020, with a total of 223 respondents. The survey was distributed via a number of non-profit, business, and state agencies in Vermont. Respondents included farms, food and farm product retail, agritourism operators, on-farm food processors, food and beverage manufacturers, nurseries/greenhouses/garden centers, and food hubs/aggregators. Overall, we find the majority of respondents experienced a COVID-19 business impact, especially in market and financial ways. We also find that the majority of respondents had business changes they wanted to make, but couldn't because of a …

The Haven: A Clinical Ethnography Of A Farm-Based Therapeutic Community, Monica Lawson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Therapeutic communities are communal spaces where individuals live for an extended period in hopes of recovering from personal crises, or while coping with severe mental illness. They provide a humanistic alternative to inpatient hospitalization. Although they are seldom studied, even less is known about farm-based therapeutic communities in the United States, where communal work is viewed as central to recovery. This dissertation examines the experience of living and working at the Haven. Originally conceived as a farm-based community where suffering individuals could experience reprieve from the demands of the “working world,” and heal by living in community, recent changes in …

Farm-Based Programming For College Students Experiencing Food Insecurity, Cara L. Cuite, Stephanie A. Brescia, Lauren B. Errickson, Alex J. Sawatzky

The Journal of Extension

Student food insecurity is a concern at colleges and universities across the country, and Extension professionals can bring unique solutions to this growing problem. At Rutgers–New Brunswick, visitors to the Student Food Pantry receive vouchers for fresh produce to be redeemed at the New Brunswick Community Farmers Market. The Rutgers Gardens Student Farm makes weekly deliveries of fresh produce to the pantry, which is available at no cost to students. With creativity, Extension efforts such as master gardener programs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education, and family and community health sciences programs can play an important role in alleviating college student …

Law Library Blog (November 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Markets And Supply Chains: An Investigation Of The Institutions Influencing The Farm-Supply Chain Interface, Jessica L. Darby

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Farm-level operations have lasting and amplified impacts that promulgate the entire supply chain, and the farm is increasingly in the forefront of today’s headlines on topics such as social responsibility, environmental sustainability, traceability, and food safety. Despite its significance, however, the farm remains a ‘black box’ and has traditionally operated independently with little information-sharing, trust, or collaboration with buyers downstream. This dissertation begins to unpack this ‘black box’ by employing different methodologies to identify the factors influencing exchange in the farm-supply chain interface. In Essay 1, I examine why the farm continues to be a challenge for ‘traditional’ collaborative approaches …

Too Good To Eat? Cosmetic Standards And Waste In Agricultural Supply Chain, Jiahui Xu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

There is a significant amount of food wasted at the farm level due to high cosmetic standards adopted by retailers. We examine the economic incentives for retailers to adopt such high cosmetic standards and their impact on food loss. We build a sequential game between a retailer and a farmer, where the retailer signs a contract with the farmer specifying both the wholesale price and cosmetic quality standard. By adopting high cosmetic standards, retailers can motivate farmers to exert a higher effort to improve the cosmetic quality, e.g., using better seeds and applying more pesticides. As for the drivers of …

Room To Grow: Agritourism Opportunities In Vermont Agriculture And Food System Plan: 2020 (Part One), Carolyn Hricko, Katie Robertson, Nick Rose, Meredith T. Niles

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

This analysis demonstrates that there is signficant unrealized potential to advance agritourism within the Vermont Agriculture and Food System Plan: 2020 (Part One)1 strategic plan and that applying an agritourism lens allows for the identification of a wide range of additional opportunities that can support Vermont farmers and agritourism goals. While agritourism is recognized in the report with a dedicated issue brief, this subsector of Vermont agriculture is otherwise largely overlooked in the other opportunities identified in Vermont’s strategic plan, particularly for the agritourism activities of hospitality, recreation, and entertainment. While direct-to-consumer sales, agricultural education, and farm diversification were referenced …

Law Library Blog (January 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Mask What You Can Do For Your Country, Hanna Biedny, Tyler Caparoni, Robert Erianne, Mashaal Syed

Foundations of Public Health - Infographics

No abstract provided.

Migrant Farm Workers Flu Clinic, Alice Peng

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Vermont's dairy industry relies heavily on migrant workers. These migrant farmworkers are mostly Latino and undocumented thus ineligible for health insurance. The Open Door Clinic in collaboration with UVM Extension Bridges to Health and Colchester Family Practice provided free satellite flu clinics to Northern Vermont Latino dairy farmworkers. This project served 12 dairy farms and vaccinated 48 farmworkers.

Cultivate Winter 2019/2020, Utah State University

Cultivate Magazine

Bi-annual magazine for the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences.

On-Farm Food Loss In Northern And Central California: Results Of Field Survey Measurementsauthor Links Open Overlay Panel, Gregory A. Baker, Leslie C. Gray, Michael J. Harwood, Travis J. Osland, Jean Baptiste C. Tooley

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Prevailing estimates of food loss at the farm level are sparse and often reliant upon grower surveys. A more comprehensive review of food loss at the farm level using field surveys is required to gain an adequate understanding of the depth of this issue. This paper details the results of 123 in-field surveys and 18 in-depth interviews of 20 different, hand-harvested field crops performed largely on midsize to large conventional farms in northern and central California. We also provide estimates of the percentage of fields that go unharvested, commonly known as walk-by fields. The results show that food loss is …