A major agricultural research center in East Texas is losing its federal funding. The Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention and Education was created in 1995 at The University of Texas at Tyler. The center conducts programs of research, prevention, and education designed to reduce occupational injuries and diseases among agricultural workers. The Southwest Ag Center is located at the UT Tyler Health North Campus near Owentown.
The cuts are part of sweeping reductions to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health programs made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April. The Southwest Ag Center is scheduled to lose all federal funding in the upcoming fiscal year beginning in September.
The research center at UT Tyler is one of 12 such centers in the U.S. The federal government created the first ag safety research center in 1990 to address the high rate of injury and death among farmers. Federal data show agriculture, forestry and fishing workers still have the highest fatal injury rate among major industries. The Southwest Ag Center serves Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
