Missouri

Frank Wideman, MU Extension agricultural engineer, facilitated an AgrAbility training workshop for 55 Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) employees located in USDA Service Centers covering 25 counties in Southeast Missouri. NRCS and SWCD employees work with agricultural landowners and farmers every day; therefore, they have an opportunity to inform eligible farmers about the Missouri AgrAbility Project.

Missouri AgrAbility team members from University of Missouri Extension (MUE) and Lincoln University Cooperative Extension (LUCE) developed educational health and safety displays to address on-the-farm repetitive motion, vibration, respiratory, eye, and noise related issues. MUE and LUCE AgrAbility staff will use the Jesup Wagon as an agricultural demonstration wagon (trailer) outfitted with ergonomic tools, adaptive technologies, and farming/ranching equipment to instruct farmers with disabilities in rural areas of Missouri.

Submitted by Karen Funkenbusch

Lincoln University Cooperative Extension (LUCE) Innovative Small Farmers' Outreach Program (ISFOP) in collaboration with the University of Missouri Extension (MUE) facilitated an educational outreach booth. David Middleton and Nahshon Bishop handed out educational materials to raise awareness about the Missouri AgrAbility Project (MAP) during the Fall 2018 Farm Fest and Ag Expo that took place at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield, Missouri, on October 5, 2018.

Nahshon Bishop, a small-farm specialist for LUCE ISFOP spoke to college students at Ozarks Technical Community College on October 11. One of the topics covered in educational presentations was government infrastructure that assists farmers. The Missouri AgrAbility Project (MAP) was touched upon during these discussions.

David Middleton, a farm outreach worker (FOW), and Nahshon Bishop, a small-farm specialist working for LUCE ISFOP, in collaboration with the Webb City Farmers' Market and the University of Missouri Extension, held an educational field day at Gainesville, Missouri, on October 20, 2018. Using the Jesup Wagon outreach method, David and Nahshon brought modern agricultural tools and research-based information into rural Missouri to educate farmers about the following topics:

• What is AgrAbility and how can it help you?
• Ergonomic hand tools every small farmer should own to prevent injury
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) you should own before you spray pesticides on farm

Submitted by Nahshon Bishop

The Missouri AgrAbility Project (MAP) was represented at the Brain Injury Association of Missouri (BIA-MO) 13th Annual Professional Conference which was held October 4-5 with Karen Funkenbusch, MAP PI, representing AgrAbility on the "Employment Best Practices" panel at the conference. Farmer Chris Allen, who sustained his brain injury from an aneurism in 2008, shared his personal story at the professional conference and the next day at the Survivor & Family Seminar. In total, more than 300 individuals learned about the Missouri AgrAbility Program.

Submitted by Maureen Cunningham