With key information, farmers can build resilience, reduce risk, and adapt to changing weather.
The Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Fellowship brought information to Fellows through workshops with experts and practitioners. Those presentations have been adapted into a series of fact sheets, designed to provide science-based, practical guidance to farmers and landowners in the Northeast and Midwest.
Farmer Safety in Extreme Heat
This fact sheet and the accompanying materials were developed from a webinar by Kent Boyd, DNP, RN, PHN, a Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Public Health Extension Educator with the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership. Additional authors include: Kate Holcomb, USDA Northeast Climate Hub; Rachel Schattman, University of Maine; and Marlee Giacometti, American Farmland Trust.
Additional references used in creating this fact sheet include:
Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, through the National Centers for Environmental Information’s Climate at a Glance and the Regional Climate Centers’ Applied Climate Information System.
Habeeb, Dana & Vargo, Jason & Jr, Brian. (2015). Rising heat wave trends in large US cities. Natural Hazards. 76. 1651-1665. DOI 10.1007/s11069-014-1563-z.
Morrissey, M. C., Casa, D. J., Brewer, G. J., Adams, W. M., Hosokawa, Y., Benjamin, C. L., Grundstein, A. J., Hostler, D., McDermott, B. P., McQuerry, M. L., Stearns, R. L., Filep, E. M., Degroot, D. W., Fulcher, J., Flouris, A. D., Huggins, R. A., Jacklitsch, B. L., Jardine, J. F., Lopez, R. M., . . Yeargin, S. W. (2021). Heat Safety in the Workplace: Modified Delphi Consensus to Establish Strategies and Resources to Protect the US Workers. GeoHealth, 5(8). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gh000443
Additional tools and information related to staying safe in the heat:
Heat Illness Prevention webpage | Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): https://www.osha.gov/heat/
Heat Safety Tool | OSHA-NIOSH: https://www.osha.gov/heat/heat-app
Heat Illness Toolkit | Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center: https://deohs.washington.edu/pnash/heat-toolkit
Rhabdomyolysis webpage | NIOSH: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/rhabdo/about/index.html
Work/Rest/Water
This printable chart can provide guidance on on rest and hydration needs at a given temperature and work level.