NDSU Extension partnering to deliver agricultural safety and health program on Dec. 5
Adopting safety practices on most farm and ranch operations is voluntary, underscoring the importance of working with trusted community members to help producers identify hazards and take steps to reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities. In North Dakota, a large network of trusted community support exists to address the growing concern of agricultural injuries and fatalities.
To address farm and ranch safety prevention efforts, North Dakota State University Extension has partnered with the National Farm Medicine Center to offer the Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health (RF-DASH) train-the-trainer program in North Dakota.
The RF-DASH program will be offered in person on Dec. 5 at Webster Farms, near Penn, North Dakota, with the full program beginning at 8 a.m. and concluding at 5 p.m.
“In North Dakota, we have a fantastic network of Extension agents, rural firefighters, ambulance squads and county emergency managers,” says Angie Johnson, NDSU Extension farm and ranch safety specialist. “These professionals are community members and trusted sources of information that farmers, ranchers and their families listen to when it comes to addressing hazards regarding health and safety on their farm operation.”
RF-DASH training opportunities are open to firefighters, county emergency managers, EMS personnel, law enforcement, safety professionals, Extension agents, technical college instructors, rural insurance agents, farmers, ranchers and other rural community members interested in preventing agricultural injuries and fatalities.
RF-DASH allows these trusted community partners to become leaders in farm and ranch safety prevention education and provide outreach opportunities to their local farmers and ranchers.
The event is free; however, registration is required by Nov. 26. Registration is available at ndsu.ag/RFDASH-26.
The RF-DASH program was created by the National Farm Medicine Center and the Upper Midwest Agriculture Safety and Health Center, with financial support from the CHS Foundation for in-person training. The curriculum contains five modules with a hands-on component that focuses on injury prevention and emergency preparedness for farms and ranches:
- Introduction to Agricultural Emergencies
- Preplanning and Mapping Farms with Farm MAPPER
- Farm Hazard Analysis with Saferfarm.org
- Farm First Aid
- Approaching the Farm Community
“RF-DASH really forced me to take off my firefighter hat and focus on identifying farm-related hazards first,” says Cale Woodhouse, past RF-DASH participant and firefighter for the Bismarck Rural Fire Department.
“I had to change my mindset to identify the potential safety hazards on the farm that could possibly end up bringing me here as a firefighter in an emergency response situation,” says Woodhouse. “Instead of focusing on what the rescue process would look like, RF-DASH takes it a step further and asks, ‘How do we prevent this from becoming a rescue situation in the first place?’”
Casper “Cap” Bendixsen, director of research at the National Farm Medicine Center in Marshfield, Wisconsin, says RF-DASH aims to leverage the bonds among rural fire departments, farmers and ranchers, and agricultural community members to reduce rates of agricultural injury and property loss in rural communities.
“Thanks to grant support from the CHS Foundation, we are able to train new leaders in North Dakota and work on getting a cohort of trainers established in the state — an identified need that North Dakota firefighters and Extension professionals expressed to us,” says Bendixsen.
NDSU Extension agents Lindsay Overmyer and Hayden Anderson, along with North Dakota county emergency manager Chris Jaeger and firefighter Lee Gessner, are co-leaders in facilitating the December RF-DASH training. Local sponsors include Webster Farms and the Devils Lake Rural Fire Department.
To learn more about the RF-DASH program, contact Johnson at angela.b.johnson@ndsu.edu. For more details about the RF-DASH program, including online resources, visit https://rfdash.org/.
Webster Farms is located at 5351 73rd Ave. NE near Penn.
NDSU Agriculture Communication – Oct. 29, 2026
Source: Angie Johnson, 701-231-1873, angela.b.johnson@ndsu.edu
Source: Lindsay Overmyer, 701-662-7027, lindsay.overmyer@ndsu.edu
Source: Hayden Anderson, 701-968-4362, hayden.m.anderson@ndsu.edu
Editor: Dominic Erickson, 701-231-5546, dominic.erickson@ndsu.edu
