National AgrAbility Project News
Competitive SRAP applications are due June 4. Resources are available to assist in the process. more
AgrAbility Webinar: Osteoarthritis and Obesity. Tuesday, May 27 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. Register by May 22. more
Upcoming June AgrAbility Webinar: Suicide Awareness with a Focus on Veterans and Rural Americans. Thursday, June 26 at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
Save the date: AgrAbility all-staff call/web meeting. Wednesday, July 1 at 3:00 p.m. EDT. A guest presenter from SourceAmerica is scheduled.
Join AgrAbility at two great conferences in June: RESNA and ISASH. more
Visit www.agrability.org/Resources/back, the NAP's new web page for back health in agriculture . more
Amber Wolfe, national partner from the Arthritis Foundation, presented two arthritis workshops with support from AgrAbility states. more
A second national arthritis and agriculture conference is being planned, and a committee has been formed. more
A new gardening and arthritis resource is being developed. more
The National AgrAbility Advisory Team met in Indianapolis on April 29-30. Members from as far away as New Mexico and Washington, D.C. participated in two days of fruitful discussions. more
The auction goal for the 2014 NTW was $6,500 and the total amount raised was over $7,500 for farmer and rancher travel stipends for the 2015 NTW.
State and Regional AgrAbility Project News
Arkansas
The Arkansas AgrAbility Project grant has ended for this grant cycle, but Arkansas staff members are still finishing projects already started. Attached is an informational brochure on blood pressure recently completed. Feel free to use this for your purposes.
California
CalAg staffed a booth at the annual Child and Family Resource Fair in Orland, CA. more
Eight bilingual, English and Spanish, "Get Moving" Arthritis Exercise classes were conducted in the month of April. more
Staff has completed the six-week training, "Tomando Control de su salud" (Taking Control of Your Health) sponsored by Dignity Health and Woodland Healthcare. more
CalAg has been busy this month, collecting letters of support from collaborators for the next grant proposal for 2014-2018.
CalAg is once again working with One Sight Vision Program to provide three new consumers with free eye exams and eyeglasses.
CalAgrAbility continues to use twitter. Follow us at https://twitter.com/calagrability.
Georgia
The Rapid Fabrication Workshop for occupational therapists was held on March 12. more
The GA AgrAbility advisory council met on March 5. more
AgrAbility helped sponsor the Threads That Bind Us community project held in Tifton, Georgia on March 1. more
Glen Rains was an author on a recently published article in the Journal of Adolescent Health. more
Indiana
Steve Swain, rural rehabilitation specialist with Indiana AgrAbility/Breaking New Ground, presented to the Hancock County Extension Homemakers a session titled Gardening for People with Disabilities or Those Who are Getting Older. more
Amber Wolfe has presented arthritis information at a local garden club, and has shared her display material with an Indiana county Extension office for one of their events.
Minnesota
On April 10, 2014, Minnesota AgrAbility staff attended an all day workshop for farmer veterans at the Organic Field School located at the Gardens of Eagan in Eagan, Minnesota. more
The Minnesota AgrAbility staff is preparing to attend the 57th annual Invention Expo sponsored by the Minnesota Inventors Congress. more
Missouri
Missouri staff members participated in the 2014 NTW. more
Karen Funkenbusch and Willard Downs presented at the Power Up 2014 Assistive Technology Conference and Expo held April 14-15. more
Maureen Cunningham and Karen Funkenbusch collaboratively showcased the Missouri AgrAbility and Brain Injury Associations in Missouri Programs at the Becoming a Military and Veteran Friendly Ministry, Free Clergy Symposium, in Jefferson City, MO. more
Tracy Harlan, Pharm.D. Candidate 2014 at UMKC School of Pharmacy at MU was one of only five students in the country to win the Pharmacy Today One to One Patient Counseling Award. more
Kelly Cochran, Pharm.D., BCPS and Karen Funkenbusch had a poster titled: Pharm to Farm: a novel APPE delivering on-site farmstead medication assessment to rural Missourians accepted to be presented at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy annual meeting in Grapevine, TX in July.
The UMKC School of Pharmacy student organization American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists was recognized as a Division AA National Chapter Achievement Award 2nd runner up. more
Kelly Cochran, PharmD, BCPS and several AgrAbility clients were interviewed by the University of Missouri-Kansas City for a press release article that the university will be displaying on their website. more
Concussion education continued with Maureen Cunningham presenting at the Sports Concussion Seminar hosted by Freeman Health Center in Joplin, Missouri. more
Educational programs of the Brain Injury Association of Missouri included information about AgrAbility and the survivor and family seminars held in southwest and western Missouri and two in-service programs for professionals including therapists, neurologists, and psychologists.
North Carolina
NC AgrAbility was represented by one of the largest state delegations at the 2014 NTW in Lexington, Kentucky March 31-April 3. more
Later that same week, students from project partner NC State University Department of Bio & Ag Engineering Helen Peel and Brent Jones represented the AgrAbility community at the 2014 National Conference for Undergraduate Research in 
Lexington with their NC AgrAbility student design research poster titled "Accessible Gardening Vehicle for Operators with Limited Mobility." more
Dr. Mary Hildebrand and her MSTO students Cassie Joyner, Susan Prince, Madeline McCauley, Elisabeth Sitton, Sarah Timmons, and PhD student Matthew Gallagher presented the NC AgrAbility display, show and tell tool kit, and educational materials, as well as two continuing-education-credit sessions at the 2014 American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference & Expo in Baltimore, Maryland April 3-6. more
Project Coordinator Michele Proctor presented NC AgrAbility in a rotational session in the Macon, Swain, and Jackson County Farm Bureau Farm Safety Day in Macon County on April 8 with project partner Robin Tutor-Marcom, director of the NC Agromedicine Institute.
Dr. Mary Hildebrand presented the NC AgrAbility curriculum to students at the University of North Carolina Occupational Therapy program on April 20. more
The NC AgrAbility student projects for 2013-2014 have been completed. NCSU Ag Engineering teams presented the Farmers Market Lift and Garden Scooter 2.0 design prototypes on April 24. more
Nebraska
Nine health professionals participated in a one-day training to learn more about AgrAbility, the culture and hazards of farming and ranching, and return-to-work strategies for farmers and ranchers with disabilities. more
AgrAbility staff Nancy Frecks, Sharry Nielsen, and Kenny Jurgens attended the NTW and enjoyed the variety of learning opportunities offered. more
Ohio
The OAP staff was asked to present their Dayton VA Greenhouse PowerPoint to the Dayton Veterans Administration Hospital Administration and veterans focus group on April 21. more
The VA Greenhouse Design is a senior engineering capstone project of the University of Dayton and was presented by the team of Nick Colarosa, Celeste Cooper, Eric Gruenbacher, and Tyler Roth. more
Oklahoma
On behalf of the farmers and ranchers we've served for the past twelve years, OK AgrAbility would like to say it has been a great honor to stand with you all. As the project moves to affiliate status, we specially recognize Linda Jaco, who has been on board since the beginning. We also extend thanks to our esteemed Advisory Council for their support and guidance. With OK Extension Educators and Disability Service Providers, we remain committed to providing education, advocacy, and resources to agricultural families with disabilities.
Pennsylvania
AgrAbility for Pennsylvanians held its annual advisory group meeting on April 17. more
Students involved in Penn State University's agricultural Greek organizations raised money in conjunction with AgrAbility for Pennsylvanians in a grassroots campaign this spring. more
Utah
AgrAbility of Utah participated in the first annual Utah Farm and Ranch Expo March 6-8 at the Box Elder County Fairgrounds in Tremonton, Utah. more
Darlene Carlisle represented AgrAbility of Utah at the 2014 Utah State Dairy Convention March 6-7 in St. George, Utah. more
AgrAbility of Utah sponsored a booth at the Utah FFA Association State Convention March 13-15 at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. more
AgrAbility of Utah client John Snow was featured in Investing in America 2013-2014 produced by the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation. more
Vermont
The Vermont AgrAbility team is collaborating with Dr. Michele Pfannenstiel with plans to convene a working forum in June to establish a Vermont chapter of the Farmer Veteran Coalition. more
The Vermont AgrAbility team participated in a traumatic brain injury awareness project in St. Johnsbury, VT. more
Wisconsin
AgrAbility of Wisconsin was part of the unveiling of the 30x20 grant recipients for 2014. more
To continue working in the agriculture industry, even when the limitations caused by his disability made his daily tasks difficult to accomplish, Jeffery Berg received assistance from UW-Extension's AgrAbility program. more
West Virginia
On April 10, 2014, WV AgrAbility staff spoke to approximately 50 Marion County, West Virginia Farm Bureau members about the purpose of AgrAbility and farm safety. more
Weston, West Virginia hosted this year's Beef Expo at the Jackson's Mill State 4-H Conference Center. more
On April 14, West Virginia AgrAbility staff discussed accessible gardening for children with disabilities at the Fairmont, West Virginia Disability Action Center. more
During the month of April, several farm site assessments and visits were made with West Virginia farmers. more
A presentation was given on April 26 to a group of Braxton County, West Virginia Master Gardeners during the annual Braxton County Life's a Garden--Dig It Day. more
The Romney Elementary School in Hampshire County, West Virginia had the opportunity to hear AgrAbility staff speak on ergonomic gardening techniques. more
AgrAbility staff plan on speaking to various occupational medicine students about AgrAbility, disability, and assistive technology solutions.
Wyoming
Wyoming AgrAbility and the University of Wyoming student organization ABILITIES sponsored Ashlee Lundvall, Ms. Wheelchair U.S.A. from Cody Wyoming, at the 16th annual Shephard Symposium on Social Justice on the campus of UW. The title of her presentation was, "Crown and Camo: Making A.D.A. Work for You."
The 7th edition of the Wyoming AgrAbility newspaper insert was distributed through 24 Wyoming daily and weekly newspapers with an estimated total readership of 129,000.
Staff Changes
Georgia
DeWayne Dales has been promoted to UGA's farm research manager and is no longer with AgrAbility. Join us in congratulating him on his new assignment and all of the wonderful contributions he made to the AgrAbility project.
North Carolina
The NC AgrAbility Partnership team welcomes NCA and TSU's John Paul Owens as the new project director. We'd like to thank Dr. Jimo Ibrahim for serving as our project director for the first two years of our project.
AgrAbility in the News
Click here for news stories featuring AgrAbility projects.
- Involving Fathers in Teaching Youth About Farm Tractor Seatbelt Safety—A Randomized Control Study
- Returning to the Field
- Lending a Helping Hand: AgrAbility of Wisconsin Offers Assistance for Disabled, Aging Farmers
- Tech Gaining Hoof-Hold on Wyoming Ranches
- Area Third Graders Learn More About Farm Safety at Day Camp
- Make Farming & Ranching with Arthritis Easier
- Art Exhibit Connects Domestic Violence and Brain Injury
Other News
Click here for other news of interest to AgrAbility staff members.
- AT&T and Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies to Launch Mobile Device Training for People with Disabilities
- Recent News From P.H.A.R.M. Dog
Upcoming Events
Click here for professional development events related to AgrAbility.Problems? Contact Clifford Racz, National AgrAbility Project, racz@purdue.edu