As agricultural practices transform the countryside with new trends in work, workforce, and products, it is important to understand the change that is occurring in order to examine potentially adverse effects on the health and safety of agriculture's human resources. New exposures, with unknown consequences, are coupled with changing technology, new crop treatment practices and agents, animal raising activities, and specialty crop production requirements. Aging populations of farm and ranch operators, increased participation and ownership of agricultural operations by women, and dependency on hired and migrant or seasonal workforces are but a few of the effects of change. In Wisconsin alone, the number of farm operators, as listed by principal occupation, decreased over 13% between 1987 and 1992, while the number of farms with 1000 or more acres increased over 11% during that same period. Consolidation and vertical integration of operations is expected to continue in the future as multi-family corporate farms and mega-farms evolve. National emphasis on food safety, environmental impact, and consumer-driven specialty products pushes the agricultural landscape into new frontiers. Understanding the current trends and future conceptual visions related to the changing practice of agriculture provides us with insight to develop preventive interventions at the onset of change, rather than responding to the stimuli of subsequent disease and injury.