Indiana AgrAbility exhibited at the 3rd Annual Indiana Small Farms Conference at the conference center in Danville, Indiana. The exhibit included an Indiana AgrAbility display, Arthritis in Agriculture, AgrAbility publications, and information about beginning farmers and veteran farmer resources from the USDA and Purdue Extension. Also at the conference was Life Essentials with their truck lift.
Dr. Bill Field presented in two breakout sessions at the 3rd Annual Indiana Small Farms Conference. The first session, which was co-presented by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, addressed liability issues for the small farm, including selling direct to the public at a farm market and other agritourism issues. The second session was titled "Small Farm Guide to Selecting and Purchasing Equipment." This session addressed the process of sizing, inspecting, selecting, and financing farm equipment for the small farm. Ph.D. candidate Shawn Ehlers co-authored the presentation and is anticipating presenting it as a webinar in the future.
Indiana AgrAbility and Life Essentials presented a training session for the Purdue community during Disability Awareness Month. The session was titled "Assistive Technology in Agriculture and Gardening," and presented information on AgrAbility, accessible gardening and adaptive tools, and accessible farm equipment using Life Essentials products. Examples of adaptive garden tools/aids, a truck lift, and pilot lift from Life Essentials were available for attendees to inspect.
Amber Wolfe, SRAP Partner at the Arthritis Foundation, facilitated a call on March 10th with the Indiana Soybean Alliance regarding co-authoring blog posts for the new Arthritis and Ag webpage, and the blogs for the soybean, corn, and beef Associations. Amber was also invited to attend the 2015 Inclusion Conference on March 13th in Indianapolis, and was able to meet several of the policy-makers related to disabilities in schools and communities.
Submitted by Amber Wolfe