On April 15 and 16, 2026, at the Agricultural Research Station in Arlington, the UW–Madison Division of Extension Farm Management Program welcomed more than two dozen farm managers, agricultural consultants, safety directors, and farm workers to a full-day pilot workshop. The workshop explored newly developed safety training components of the bilingual Forward Farm Safety Toolbox, with the goal of collecting input from participants to produce practical, well-rounded training materials.
The pilot was delivered in English on the first day and in Spanish on the second. Participants tested two toolbox modules: Skid Steer Operation and Animal (dairy cow) Handling.
Each module began with a data-focused overview, highlighting statistics and outcomes related to safety incidents on farms. After lively discussion and sharing of personal experiences, participants moved into the hands-on portion of the training, exploring the skid steer and observing dairy cow behavior. The modules wrapped up with participants identifying realistic steps they could take to make lasting behavior changes on their farms.
The goal of the pilot workshop was to gather feedback from the people who would ultimately use the toolbox. These insights will play a key role in ensuring the safety modules are practical, realistic, engaging for adult learners, and easy to implement on working farms.
“I think these are long overdue resources for agriculture and dairy,” one participant shared. “Thank you for tackling this and creating these teaching tools.”
Feedback from the pilot workshop will influence improvements and revisions to the toolbox, strengthening safety practices on individual farms and across the broader agricultural community. Input from both English- and Spanish-speaking participants is especially important in creating a tool that supports safer, more efficient farm workplaces.
About the Toolbox
The Forward Farm Safety Toolbox is a hands-on resource designed to support effective safety training in both English and Spanish for farms of all sizes.
Grounded in research, the toolbox helps agricultural operations build a strong culture of safety as the foundation of safety programs which will promote meaningful behavior changes and ongoing leadership support for workplace safety. The Forward Farm Safety Toolbox includes resources for farm owners, managers, supervisors, and industry consultants, including:
- A comprehensive blueprint for building a farm safety culture
- Training modules with step-by-step guides
- Supplemental tools, including bilingual videos and fact sheets
You can learn more about the Forward Farm Safety Toolbox on the UW-Madison Extension Farm Management Program website or subscribe to the Extension Farm Management newsletter for updates on new toolbox modules.