A Qualitative Assessment of Farmer Responses to the Certified Safe Farm Concept in Iowa andNebraska

Abstract

This article summarizes the responses of 56 farmers in six different farmer focus groups in Iowa and Nebraska to the development of a Certified Safe Farm (CSF) program. The premise of the CSF is to use reductions in health insurance rates and/or other financial incentives to motivate farmers to become healthier and safer. A number of major midwestern insurance companies, farm groups, agribusinesses, and agricultural health and safety specialists are involved in this initiative which is developing in three stages. Stage one, completed in 1996, consisted of six farmer focus groups in Iowa and Nebraska to gauge receptivity to the initiative and gain input on how a CSF Program should be built. Stage two, completed in 1997, was the development of the CSF system which consists of three components: (1) an on-farm safety review; (2) an agricultural occupational health screening; and (3) an educational exercise. Stage three consists of test piloting the system in Iowa and Nebraska over two years from 1998 to 2000. This article provides a synopsis of stage one, the results from the farmer focus groups conducted at an initial stage to qualitatively assess whether the CSF concept was viable from farmers’ point of view and, if deemed viable, how to develop the CSF. Findings from the farmer focus groups revealed no major barriers to the development and testing of the CSF program, but did expose a number of considerations subsequently incorporated into the CSF model.