According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, farming ranks among the nation’s most injury-prone industries. Each year, more than 200,000 farmers, ranchers and other agricultural workers sustain injuries on the job. Farming also comprises the oldest workforce in the country, making its members more likely to have disabilities.
How do farmers overcome these obstacles? Indiana AgrAbility, in partnership with Easterseals Crossroads and the INDATA Project, had plenty of answers for that question at this month’s Agricultural Assistive Technology Expo.
Hosted at Huntington University, this event exposed occupational therapy students as well as vocational rehabilitation personnel and local farmers to assistive technology that makes farming safer and more accessible for people with disabilities. Pictured below is a demonstration of a wearable farming exoskeleton, which reduces muscle strain and fatigue during manual labor, thus lowering the risk of injury.
Other AT included ramps, all-terrain wheelchairs and tractors with lift seats. (INDATA is collaborating with AgrAbility to build a lending library of assistive technology from the National AgrAbility Toolbox.)
“We’re aiming for a variety of products to help the widest group possible,” Easterseals Crossroads’ Assistive Technology Technician Lisa Becker said in a previous blog. “Some of the technology will be very low-tech and geared toward hobby farmers like me, and some of it will assist farmers with lots of animals and those growing vast fields of corn or soybeans, as many do here in Indiana.”
As Becker told Hoosier Ag Today, events like the Agricultural AT Expo help people “understand what farmers’ daily tasks might be and how those might change throughout the year and if someone has a disability.”
For the occupational therapy students at Huntington University, Indiana AgrAbility Project Manager Chuck Baldwin said, “This event will help them relate to their clients in the future, those that are farmers and ranchers. Once the occupational therapy is over and farmers are able to be mobile again, their next question is, ‘How do I get back to doing what I really want to do on my farm?’ That’s where AgrAbility, Easterseals Crossroads and INDATA come in to get them back to work.”
It’s inspiring to see events like this highlighting innovation and support for farmers. The AgrAbility program and its partners are making such an important difference in helping farmers stay safe, productive, and independent despite the challenges they face.