HR and Safety Management Resources

This page contains links to external resources on employee safety and human resources management.

Human Resources Management

  • Alltech FARM Employee Management Series
    Alltech®
    Alltech and the National Dairy FARM Program present a 3-part series featuring Jorge Delgado outlining practical steps to build your own farm culture and connect with your team.
  • Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development Program
    Cornell University
    This program offers a variety of human resource management resources, including templates and informational guides.
  • PRO-DAIRY Program
    Cornell University
    This program has a variety of information and templates available for dairy farms. These range for tips on how to establish your farm’s mission and values, to developing employee loyalty, and a worksheet for job descriptions.
  • Human Resources Management for Farm Business Office Guide
    Manitoba Agriculture
    The guide explains the process of building an effective HR plan that can reduce risk, reduce turnover and improve the quality of people you hire. Case studies use real-life examples to show how farms have successfully worked through common issues.
  • Agriculture HR Management Resources Articles
    University of Wisconsin – Extension
    A site devoted to aggregated resources and articles from a variety of sources.
  • Labor Management Resources Articles
    Michigan State University – Dairy Extension
    Various articles and resources on dairy labor management.
  • The Balance
    An abundance of templates and resources for HR management for business owners
  • Iowa State Extension Dairy Team
    a series of articles on employee management, ranging from recruiting, interviewing, job descriptions, and orientation.
  • Penn State Extension Dairy Human Resource Webinars
    Educational webinars about human resources at dairy farms from Penn State Extension.
  • Missouri Farm Labor Guide
    University of Missouri Extension
    This guide outlines multiple factors that affect agricultural employers who establish and manage a workforce. It divides the employment process into six segments: recruitment; hiring; onboarding, training and mentoring; operations; retention; and termination.

Fit Small Business
has a detailed guide to creating an employee handbook. While it is not specific to dairies or agriculture, it provides a useful introductory guide.

Safety Management

  • Farm Safety Checklist
    New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH)
    Created by the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH), the farm safety checklist is a complete checklist that can be used to conduct a self-administered audit.
  • Farm Safety Checks
    UMASH
    Quick monthly review to identify and fix potential hazards before they cause harm to your family and employees – and your bottom line. Each month, Farm Safety Check will focus on a different topic, offering checklists and tips to help identify hazards, along with resources to remedy any problems.
  • Farm Hazard Inspection Checklists
    UW Extension
  • Safety Checklists for Dairy Farms
    Washington State Department of Labor & Industries

As part of the OSHA LEP programs in Wisconsin and New York, various resources were developed to guide dairy farms:

  • Cultivate Safety
    The National Farm Medicine Center and National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety designed the Cultivate Safety website to provide easy access to agricultural safety information and resources for farmers, ranchers, supervisors and media.
  • Marshfield Clinic
    Child Ag Injury Prevention Workshops; 2020 dates TBD.
  • Youth Farm Safety
    University of Vermont
    The Youth Farm Safety Project is a farm safety resource for children and teens – and the adults who work with and care for them.

Training and Development

  • Tailgate Talks
    Tailgate Talks Idaho Dairymen’s Association
    Tailgate Talks are manager-led safety discussions for dairy workers. Each discussion is intended to last 5-10 minutes and focuses on a topic included in the Dairy Dozen.
  • Tailgate Safety Training for Employees
    Ohio State University
    Extension Short, 20 minute employee safety training sessions.
  • Bilingual Safety Training Curriculum and Resources
    Upper Midwest Agriculture Safety and Health Center (UMASH)
    Training curriculum, posters, and comics.
  • Dairy Safety Training Guide
    from California’s WOSHTEP and WCAHS. Available in English and Spanish, this training guide is designed to be used by owners and managers. It contains step-by-step instructions for conducting the training sessions and background information and resources for owners and managers.
  • Safety Training Materials
    University of Wisconsin
    Training materials including PowerPoint presentations and participant workbooks.
  • Safety Education Posters
    New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health
    Bilingual training posters
  • Silage Safety
    Connor Agriscience
    Educational online videos and DVDs in English and Spanish on starting an on-farm silage safety program. Free silage safety coloring books also available as a way to teach children, family, and employees the basics of safe silage.
  • Hearing Loss Prevention
    Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health 
    Hearing loss educational materials that explain how hearing loss happens and what you can do to prevent it. Training tools include fact sheets, printable handouts, posters and a hearing loss simulator.
  • Dairy Worker Safety
    The University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center 
    Bilingual Dairy Farm Safety portal, bilingual dairy training guides, bilingual training courses, and U.S. Agricultural Safety and Health Center educational video.
  • Needlestick Prevention Resources
    Upper Midwest Agriculture Safety and Health Center (UMASH)
    Training curriculum, posters, fact sheets, and videos available in English and Spanish.
  • Training for Supervisors of Young Agricultural Workers
    Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest – University of Iowa
    A free, evidence-based training for supervisors, parents, and teachers working with adolescent and young adult workers. Topics include supervision, training, and communicating more effectively.
  • Dairy Worker Safety Training Videos
    University of Wisconsin – Extension
    Bilingual training videos and flashcards. See bottom of the page.
  • Safe Dairy Practices
    Colorado State University/HICAHS
    Short video resource covering safe dairy practices, available in both English and Spanish.
    English | Spanish
  • Video Series: Considering Human and Animal Safety
    Produced under the direction of Dairy Extension Specialist Robert Hagevoort, PhD to educate dairy farm workers on
    practices that will keep both the workers and the cows safe and healthy.
  • Video Series: Bilingual Dairy Safety
    NASD
    Additional resources and trainings are available on the main National Ag Safety Database website.
  • Video Series: Seconds for Your Safety
    Center for Dairy Excellence
    The video series is available in both English and Spanish designed to help dairy producers share simple safety reminders with farm employees. The 60-second videos cover safety around animals, fall prevention measures, tractor and truck rollovers, youth on the farm, and more.
  • AgSafe has a variety of programs and services for producers, ranging from safety certificate programs to sexual harassment prevention training.
  • Farm Employee University
    Michigan State University Extension
    Farm Employee University provides a training platform accessible to all farm employees and employers.
  • Training and Education
    Wester Center for Agricultural Health and Safety
    A variety of training and workshop programs ranging in topics from heat and illness prevention to sexual harassment prevention, to equipment safety, and more.
  • Agricultural Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program
    Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development
    This certificate program helps farm supervisors and managers learn and apply human resource management practices and leadership skills that foster rewarding workplaces and drive business results.
  • Safer Farm
    National Farm Medicine Center
    A program for evaluating and offers recommendations on correcting on-farm hazards.

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the National Milk Producers Federation or the National Dairy FARM Program of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. The National Milk Producers Federation and the National Dairy FARM Program bear no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

Certificate Generation

Dairy farmers and managers are encouraged to create a certificate documenting completed continuing education and training.

Fill out the spaces below to generate the certificate or click here to download the fillable PDF

  • MM slash DD slash YYYY
  • Enter an email where you want the certificate to be sent