Since late August Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development and Cornell Cooperative Extension have hosted a weekly office hour on Tuesdays for farmers and packers to answer any questions about managing and responding to protect the farm workforce during COVID-19. Office hours will be held at a new time on September 8, at 12:30 PM EDT, and will continue to be held each Tuesday through September. Registration is free but required. Questions can be submitted during registration or asked during the office hours.
REGISTER for COVID-19 office hours at 12:30 PM EDT, September 8
The Safe Harvest 2020: COVID-19 Office Hours now feature updates and also provide an opportunity to ask questions. Participants can log in from a computer or call in from a phone to ask questions or just to listen. A panel of experts will be available to answer questions immediately. Questions that the experts cannot answer right away will be recorded, studied and answered later. Panelists on September 8 include:
- Jennifer Trodden, NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets
- David Bell, Orleans County Health Department
- Mary Jo Dudley, Cornell Farmworker Program
- Elizabeth Bihn, Cornell University Department of Food Science
- Julie Kikkert, Cornell Vegetable Program
- Hector Gonzalez, NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets
- Richard Stup, Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development
The September 8 office hours will kick off with some key updates:
- Mobile testing lab progress so far, lessons learned, and upcoming plans. Jennifer Trodden, Deputy Commissioner, NYS Ag and Markets
- Local health department perspective about on-farm testing and best practices that employers can take to support testing and communication. David Bell, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Orleans County Health Department
