Agricultural Safety and Health
Research-based information and resources to help individuals and organizations understand and prevent injury and illness while working in and around agriculture.
We are committed to improving food and energy supplies on a global scale. Locally, we facilitate this effort through collaboration with the College of ACES and Illinois Extension outreach. Our Extension faculty and specialists work with farmers to improve livestock waste management systems, air-quality control in livestock facilities, farm safety, drainage, and chemical applications.
Support Resources
Agricultural Safety and Health Network
Community-based programs addressing various agricultural safety and health issues.
Energy Education Council
Promoting more effective, efficient, and safe use of electric energy.
Illinois Certified Livestock Manager Training
The goal is to educate livestock producers about waste-management practices, rules, and regulations to enable them to become certified as required by the State of Illinois.
Illinois Manure Management Plan
The Illinois Manure Management Plan website offers step-by-step instructions for developing manure-management plans that comply with the requirements of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Livestock Facilities and Manure Management
The Small Farms Manure Management website provides livestock producers with information related to composting manure, environmental rules and regulations, facilities, manure land application, and pasture management.
Midwest Plan Service
Develops agricultural publications covering topics including: agricultural engineering; farm business management; animal sciences such as, dairy, swine, beef, horse, and sheep; construction; grain and postharvest; soil, air, and water management; manure management; and ventilation for livestock housing.
Pesticide Safety Education
The goal of our Pesticide Safety Education program is to reach all users of pesticides in Illinois with educational information on the effective, economic, and environmentally sound use of pesticides.
University of Illinois Extension
Practical, research-based information and programs to help individuals, families, farms, businesses, and communities.
University of Illinois Extension Water Quality
Our goal is to protect our natural resources while utilizing them wisely to provide food, fiber, fuel, building materials, and recreation for current and future generations. A list of land and water fact sheets is also available.
ABE Extension Specialists
Richard Cooke
Drainage Extension Specialist
Dr. Cooke is increasing the efficiency of drainage-related best management practices, and developing protocols for their design. He also develops techniques to simplify the extraction of elevation data from a pulsed laser system (LiDAR) images, and creates rainfall harvesting systems to extend cropping into the dry season in Sierra Leone.
(217) 333-0944
rcooke@illinois.edu
Josephine Rudolphi
Dr. Josie Rudolphi works to protect the health and safety of the agricultural workforce, including farm youth. Recognizing agriculture ranks among the most stressful occupational industries, she explores the association between stress and mental health and identifies risk and protective factors for mental illness. Her extension program focuses on implementing evidence-based programs to reduce the stigma and promote mental well-being among rural and agricultural communities.
Salah Fuad Issa
Dr. Issa’s research is focused on injury prevention through predictive science, evaluating new technologies and implementing technologies that reduce or remove hazards. Recognizing that agriculture ranks among the deadliest occupations with injury rates remaining fairly stable since the 1990's, he is exploring new strategies in training, and prevention. This includes investigating the safety and health impacts of AI-based technologies, developing predictive models for grain entrapments, and utilizing VR technologies to develop immersive learning experiences for agricultural safety. His extension program focuses on agricultural injury trends in Illinois and promoting a culture of safety among Illinois farmers and grain industry workers.
Neslihan Akdeniz
Dr. Akdeniz studies livestock production and solid waste management/utilization. She develops ways to improve air quality and environmental conditions in livestock buildings. As a part of her extension program, she manages the Certified Livestock Manager Training in Illinois.
(217) 300-2644
neslihan@illinois.edu