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November 2024
A monthly update for AgrAbility projects and friends of AgrAbility
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NTW Updates
- The request for proposals has ended. The planning committee is reviewing the submissions this month, and NAP will notify presenters by December.
- Poster presentations will be accepted through December 31 using the form on the NTW website or Call for Posters.
- Rooms at the Hotel Encanto have been blocked at a rate of $110.00 per night, plus a $10 amenity fee and applicable taxes. Booking Link: 2503AGRABI. This link is only valid during the specified room block dates; the arrival and departure dates must be selected from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, individuals may contact the reservations team directly at (866) 383-0443 and provide the group code: 2503AGRABI
- There are only two accessible rooms at the Hotel Encanto. It does have some rooms with a walk-in shower (1-2in lip) that might be made accessible with a shower chair. Accessible rooms are also booked at the Comfort Suites University and Sleep Inn University. Please let Tess know if you need a shower chair or an accessible room from either of the other hotels.
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AgrAbility Marketing & Media Community of Interest virtual meeting Wednesday, December 4 at 3:00 p.m. ET. If you are interested but not yet on the mailing list contact jonesp@purdue.edu | |
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Goodwill and Purdue National AgrAbility Project staff members participated in the regional workshop in Guam, October 28-31, which was planned with and supported by the University of Guam Cooperative Extension & Outreach and the Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program. Over 180 people from mainland U.S., Guam, Taiwan, and the Federated States of Micronesia had the opportunity to participate in 28 different sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday... More
NAP would love to host a regional workshop with you. If you think that you might be interested, please contact Tess tmckeel@goodwillfingerlakes.org or JoBeth jbrath@goodwillfingerlakes.org, for more information.
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The National AgrAbility Project collaborated with the National Farm Medicine Center/Children's Center/UMASH, the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health, AgriSafe, The Ohio State University SAY, University of Illinois, Progressive Agriculture Foundation, and Central States Center for Ag Safety and Health/University of Nebraska SAY in a youth safety exhibit at the National FFA Convention. More
The first AgrAbility/Extension meetup took place in October and was a great success with several participants and robust conversation. If anyone is interested in joining the conversation, meetings are held the second Wednesday of the month at 3 p.m. Eastern. Contact Sam Wolfe wolfesa4@msu.edu for details. More
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AgrAbility was well-represented at the 2024 annual conference of APRIL - the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living. In addition to a display at the Chicago conference, Kimber Nicoletti-Martinez gave a presentation on rural caregiving, and Paul Jones gave one on accessible gardening.
Newly archived virtual events:
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The Danuser T3 Post Driver Attachment, which is designed for skid-steer, tractor, mini-excavator, loader, or backhoe, will reportedly drive T-posts up to a 3-inch O.D. at a rate of six strikes per second. The top of the post is fully contained in the device to prevent kick out and is protected from damage by the strike plate. Mounting options include: (1) offset skid-steer quick-attach, allowing the operator to drive parallel to the fence line; (2) bolt-on/weld-on bracket that mounts to most any flat surface; and (3) tilt bracket with up to 20 inches adjustments left or right.
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It's been a busy month for California AgrAbility. The project recently partnered with the Center for Land Based Learning to host the third Pizza for Producers event, a Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program network initiative. More
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Together with Puentes Network colleagues, staff hosted the annual Encuentro Comunitario, a "Community Gathering," in Esparto, CA. The event was held in Spanish and attended by farmworkers from the surrounding areas. More
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Staff kicked off the fall season with the YOLO Farmworkers Festival. They had the opportunity to table at the event and share information on arthritis, diabetes, and mental health. More
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Colorado AgrAbility Behavioral Health Specialist Chad Reznicek recently won the Office of Engagement and Extension's Rising Star Award at the CSU Extension annual Fall Forum. Chad has led Extension's efforts to expand and improve behavioral health supports for farmers, ranchers, and their families across Colorado. More
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On October 19th, Kirsten Wulfsberg (behavioral health specialist), and Ashley Buchanan and Hannah Cefalo (rehabilitation specialists), attended and presented at the Women in Agriculture conference in Pueblo, Colorado. Kirsten presented on the "3 Bs of Resilience" and Ashley presented "AgrAbility 101," in which she described and shared about available resources.
Finally, behavioral health specialists Chad Reznicek and Jim Kuemmerle just returned from Guam where they presented about expanding behavioral health resources within AgrAbility at the regional training workshop. Fun was had by all!
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On October 12th, Serap Gorucu attended Rooted in Inclusion, a disability awareness event organized by GROW HUB, a non-profit plant nursery supporting the lives of adults living with disabilities.
| Vanessa Spero presented a poster "Opportunities in Agriculture for Youth with Disabilities" at the 2024 National Association of Extension-4-H Youth Development Professionals (NAE4-HYDP) Annual Conference, in Boise, ID, October 15th-17th. | |
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Lindsey Head and Serap Gorucu attended the Sunbelt Ag Expo alongside the Georgia and South Carolina AgrAbility projects in Moultrie, Georgia, October 15th-17th. This event attracts more than 50,000 attendees annually.
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October has been a very busy month for Georgia AgrAbility. Multiple AgrAbility clients got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Helene. Staff have been assisting these farmers with clean-up efforts to get their farm operations secure. | |
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The Georgia National Fair is held every October in Perry, GA. Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency had a large "Day at the Fair" aimed at getting students interested in agriculture. More
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Georgia AgrAbility was thrilled to have Florida AgrAbility and South Carolina AgrAbility with them again this year at the 46th annual Sunbelt Ag Expo! It is wonderful to showcase the work and services of multiple programs to farmers in the Southeast. More
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Georgia AgrAbility staff member Mason Dean presented to the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Agronomy Club about AgrAbility services. The group was very attentive and asked wonderful questions about accessibility. More
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Linda Tarr passed away at home on November 9. Linda worked for Hoosier Uplands Economic Development Corporation, an organization that partnered as a subcontractor on the Indiana AgrAbility Project grant for many years. Hoosier Uplands later became the lead organization for USDA’s Indiana AgVets Program, which collaborates closely with AgrAbility, and Linda was the driving force behind that grant project. More
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AgrAbility hosted a Boots to Business Reboot class for farmers and ranchers teaching them how to develop business plans and access the unique resources from USDA and other agencies and nonprofits to become farmers. Boots to Business is available for free in every state for veterans and their spouses. More
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Maine AgrAbility staff attended the meat goat "Culling and Breeding" workshop held at Liberation Farms in Wales, Maine. The workshop covered herd management information on how to make culling decisions. More
The Low Tunnels for Organic Production workshop was attended by the Maine AgrAbility program coordinator. Staff were able to address an audience of farmers and service providers about program information and details.
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Michigan staff is working on the year-end bulletin for their partners, clients, and stakeholders, and preparing for outreach opportunities at educational events throughout the winter season.
Ned Stoller and Samantha Wolfe attended the NAP regional workshop in Guam, where they learned from and with the local veteran community, local farmers, and researchers from across Micronesia, Taiwan, and the U.S. Ned also presented two sessions during the conference.
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Emily Doosing, 4-H specialist, continues to fine-tune the Rodeo Clown College teaching module that includes physical and mental health, farm safety, well-being, and AgrAbility. More information to follow and to be showcased at 2025 AgrAbility National Training Workshop. | |
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The Leaders in the Field Podcast series, hosted by Dr. Mackenzie Bevins, 2024 occupational therapy graduate who completed her capstone with Missouri AgrAbility Program, is dedicated to enhancing healthcare practitioners' understanding of the agricultural population, focusing on the unique healthcare needs, challenges, and contextual factors of agricultural workers. More
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Missouri AgrAbility team members from Lincoln University Cooperative Extension and MU Extension plus the Missouri onsite farmstead assessor presented "Farming Like It's 2024: Equipment and Technologies for Disabled Farmers" and facilitated Q&A for the AgrAbility National Training Workshop Encore Webinars 2024 on Wednesday, October 23.
The 2024 Pearls of Production Conference was a two-day conference for women in agriculture. Day one, October 29th, started via ZOOM at 6:00pm with a breakout session with four options and a keynote presenter. More
Maureen Cunningham, BIA-MO Executive Director, highlighted Missouri AgrAbility during a Kansas City VA Veterans CIT Training on Brain Injury Effects and Resources. The audience was Kanas City first responders.
AgrAbility was a topic of discussion with Maureen Cunningham and executive directors of Brain Injury Associations from across the country at the Brain Injury Association of America Leadership Conference 2024.
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Students from the Albion, Nebraska, area attended a business and industry event hosted by the Boone County Development Agency at the Niewohner Arena. This event gave students the chance to connect with local businesses and explore the career paths available in the community. More
Nebraska AgrAbility was invited to be on the advisory group for the Nebraska Farmer Veteran Coalition. Emily has been participating in its board meetings to help organize the group, and going forward, she will work to promote the organization at upcoming events. More
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Members of the Nebraska AgrAbility team Kara Brichacek, rural rehabilitation specialist, and Emily Jacobson, program manager, attended the National Reinke Sales Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska. Over 650 dealers and their families from across the nation attended the event. More
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The NM AgrAbility team continues to coordinate with NM Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum for the opening of an AgrAbility exhibit in early 2025. Their leader, Robert Hagevoort, will announce a date for the walk-through and grand opening of the exhibit when it is available.
Two OT fieldwork II students have completed their 8th week of their 12-week advanced fieldwork.
Staff are thrilled that the 2025 National Training Workshop will be in beautiful Las Cruces, NM, and several NM team members have submitted proposals to speak.
The farm apprentices working with non-profit partner Mandy's Farm are completing their training cycle this season. They have been installing grow tunnels for winter crops.
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Athena Paguio, a population health student completing her capstone with the NM AgrAbility Project, presented a farm health research poster at the University of New Mexico scholarship of practice poster session on November 5.
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Ohio AgrAbility was honored to help a farm family grant a final wish for a farmer with leukemia who wanted to have one last harvest. OAP staff took a lift that had been gifted to OAP by a retiring farmer and put it to use at a Newark, Ohio, farm so that the farmer could get into the combine and harvest. More
October was a busy month in Ohio for outreach and education. OAP staff had displays at Ag Days in Butler County and at the Goodwill Easterseals Vision Fair in Dayton. Both events presented opportunities for sharing OAP resources with new audiences. OAP staff also presented "Gardening as We Age" at two central Ohio conferences.
Disability Services Coordinator Laura Akgerman attended the National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals conference in Boise, Idaho. She attended all of the disability themed sessions and met Vanessa Spero, Co-PI and outreach coordinator for Florida AgrAbility. More
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Abbie Spackman met with the PA NRCS disabilities special emphasis program manager to problem-solve and collaborate in providing NRCS and AgrAbility services to farmers across the state. This has become a recurring bi-monthly meeting to increase networking between these two organizations. More
Abbie participated in the PA Farm Link advisory board meeting held at Rohrbach's Farm. PA Farm Link operates a land and farmer linking database and provides succession planning to farm families. More
Abbie partnered with a Penn State Extension dairy educator to provide three farm assessments in Bradford County, PA. The partnership with the dairy educator, who is well-known and respected in his county, opened the doors for two of the farm assessments to occur. More
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Marci Walborn participated in Senator Tartaglione's Disability Employment Awareness Day at the Harrisburg Capitol Rotunda on October 22. Capitol visitors and legislators and their staff visited to learn about the supports and services AgrAbilityPA provides. More
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On October 26, Suzanna Windon delivered a "Managing Stress on the Farm" training for the Allegheny County Master Gardeners. In the audience were some new and prospective farmers. More
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National Disability Employment Awareness Month was a time to celebrate and remember the commitment to ensure disabled workers have access to good jobs every month of every year. The STAR Center, TN AgrAbility's nonprofit disability partner, celebrates the incredible strength, resilience, and unique abilities of individuals with disabilities. Together, this partnership builds a more inclusive and accessible world. | |
TN AgrAbility participated in the annual educational day at the TN Technology Access Program's Resource Ability Assistive Technology Fair. This event connects Tennesseans with disabilities, educators, employers, and practitioners with innovative assistive technology that can improve and increase their independence. More
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It was a beautiful fall training day with the TN AgrAbility (TNAP) team at the Plateau AgResearch and Education Center in Crossville, TN, on October 29. Twenty-four Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Counselors participated in agriculture assistive technology training that will enable farmers with disabilities to continue their farming operation. More
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Kara Smallegan, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences OTD student, worked with Texas AgrAbility over her 16-week OTD capstone project. She is a Michigan native that comes from a farming family. More | |
Texas AgrAbility was featured in Around Texas with Chancellor John Sharp on PBS. The episode highlighted the partnership with Texas AgrAbility and West Texas A&M University capstone students to modify a tractor for a farmer with an amputation. You can view the episode here.
Farm assessments were conducted in collaboration with Vocational Rehabilitation for two Texas AgrAbility clients.
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AgrAbility of Utah staff presented to members of the Cache Interagency Council in Logan, UT, on October 28th. | |
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This month, AgrAbility has been traveling across the beautiful state of Virginia, sharing its mission with communities far and wide. One of the highlights was a wonderful farm-to-table dinner at Esther Manor Farm in Beaverdam, VA, hosted by Dr. Patience Fielding and her family. More
Staff participated in an engaging in-person farm safety day at Cargill in Harrisonburg, VA. This event provided essential safety training for farmers, ensuring a secure working environment.
AgrAbility also represented itself at the Cattlemen Association event in Lexington, VA, where valuable connections were forged within the farming community.
At the Virginia State Fair, the mobile ag education unit welcomed over 1,000 visitors eager to learn about AgrAbility's mission and services.
Currently, AgrAbility Virginia is working with 38 clients. One noteworthy case involves assisting a beef farmer in acquiring a truck hay spreader to ease the challenges of cattle feeding.
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AgrAbility of Wisconsin staff and NAP's Chuck Baldwin exhibited at World Dairy Expo from October 1-4th. World Dairy Expo is an annual event that includes a dairy cattle show, education, and the world's largest dairy-focused trade show with over 55,000 people attending the event. More
Easterseals Wisconsin FARM team members Jeff Kratochwill, director and Ami Bliefernicht, and Lindsey Prahl, rural rehabilitation specialists, presented about AgrAbility to the occupational therapy associate program at Madison College in October.
AgrAbility of Wisconsin Outreach Program Coordinator Michelle Bachand adapted the Ohio AgrAbility document Making your events, festivals and agritourism accessible to the public into a series of articles with a focus on Wisconsin Agritourism. More
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Michelle Bachand exhibited at the FEED Summit (Food Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development) from October 27-28th. The FEED Summit is the only statewide conference in Wisconsin for early-state food and farming businesses. More
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Since the start of October, the AgrAbility for Africa staff have taken great interest in the safety of farmers living on the islands of Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh water body in the world. When they are transporting goods to inland markets, there have been sky-rocketing cases of drowning following their boats capsizing due to the strong waves from the regular, violent storms. More
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The Colorado AgrAbility team welcomed two new members in October!
Hannah Cefalo will be serving as a rural rehabilitation specialist alongside Ashley Buchanan. Hannah recently graduated from the Colorado School of Public Health at Colorado State University with a master of public health degree concentrating in physical activity and healthy lifestyles. She is looking forward to meeting and building relationships with clients while connecting them to the resources they may need as well as providing recommendations to support their independence.
Clinton Wilson is joining the team as our behavioral health program and logistics specialist. He will be supporting our regional behavioral health specialists to help our team continue to expand our reach and impact. He was most recently the director of strategic initiatives for Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.
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LUCE ISFOP welcomes to the team a new ISFOP director, Dr. Mark Lucas, and a new farm outreach worker in the central region, Bryan de Valdivia. | |
Farm stress and mental wellbeing are topics and resources that we include in AgrAbility education and outreach activities through collaborations across Extension teams through the Penn State Extension Farm Stress Team. The Penn State Extension Stress Team received the EXCELLENCE IN TEAMWORK AWARD: first place national, first place regional, and first place state. More | |
Congratulations to Derrick Stowell, PhD, HTR, CTRS, education and horticultural therapy program administrator with the University of Tennessee Gardens and a TN AgrAbility partner. Dr. Stowell received an honorary lifetime membership at the American Horticulture Therapy Association's annual meeting for outstanding service to the professional organization of horticulture therapy. [copied from UTIA Monday Notes] | |
Texas AgrAbility bids farewell to Megan Peveto, Texas AgrAbility and BattleGround to Breaking Ground program coordinator. Megan worked for Texas AgrAbility for a little over a year working with clients and doing case management. We will miss Megan and wish her all the best in her future endeavors. | |
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Click titles below for news stories featuring AgrAbility projects.
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Click titles below for other news of interest to AgrAbility staff members.
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