DEVELOPING MULTI-STAKEHOLDER APPROACHES TO DAIRY PERSONNEL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Vermont dairy farmers face severe economic pressures. These include prolonged financial challenges, as well as chronic labor shortages. To address the latter, dairy farmers now rely heavily on migrant Latino labor. Those laborers, in turn, are stressed by increasing federal enforcement of immigration policy. Vermont's approach has diverged from national policy and has viewed Latino dairy workers favorably. This research will complete a survey of Latino dairy workers to assess changes in their levels of stress since 2016, survey and report on public opinions on migrant labor, and build a research coalition that will design and propose a collaborative research project that considers the needs of all personnel on Vermont dairy farms, including farmers and farmworkers.Objectives.Objective 1) Improve understanding of Vermont dairy farmers perspectives on dairy farm labor Activities:1a) Analyze data from 2018 survey of 73 Vermont dairy farmers to identify issues and opportunities related to the supply and quality of Vermont dairy labor1b) Disseminate Vermont farm labor research through presentations and publications within Vermont and externally through peer reviewed journalsObjective 2) Assess changes on Vermont public opinion on Latino dairy farm labor Activities:2a) Survey public opinion on Latino dairy farm labor as part of the Vermonter Poll2b) Analyze public opinion data on dairy farm labor from 9 years of research2c) Disseminate findings from public opinion on Latino dairy labor through conferences and peer review publicationObjective 3) Improve understanding of factors contributing to stress experienced by Vermont Latino dairy farmworkers Activities:3a) Survey 25 Latino dairy workers at a health clinic and northern and southern counties in Vermont to complete a geographically stratified sample of Latino workers initiated in 2019.3b) Analyze and disseminate research on Latino dairy labor through conferences and peer review publicationObjective 4) Collaborate with Vermont organizations engaged in farm health to prepare a collaborative proposal on farm health and well-being Activities:4a) Convene a meeting of Vermont dairy health stakeholder organizations to identify priority research areas related to farmer and farmworker health and well-being4b) Identify potential project partners outside of Vermont4c) Work with collaborating Vermont stakeholder organizations to prepare a draft proposal to share with potential collaborating organizations4d) Investigate the process and feasibility of joining a Hatch Multistate Partnership conducted through the National Information Management & Support System (NIMSS)4e) Submit a multi-stakeholder proposal to understand and improve farm health