Kansas AgrAbility (KAP) kicked off February with the Women Managing the Farm (WMF) Conference held in Manhattan. The conference was attended by nearly 200 women (and men). Since 2005, the event has been bringing together women farmers, rural business leaders, and landowners. The KAP coordinators have served on the planning committee for many of those years. KAP had the most interactive exhibits at the conference including assistive devices for vision and hearing impairments, ergonomic Radius Garden hand tools, and tools specifically for women, including the Green Heron Tools "HERS(tm) Hergonoimc(r) shovel and pitch fork.
KAP was an invited exhibitor at the Kansas HEMP Symposium in Hutchinson on February 23. Speakers shared up-to-date information on industrial hemp cultivation, implications of the Farm Bill specific to hemp, Kansas State University pilot program specifics, regulatory updates, and an overview of business opportunities in the developing industry. The KAP exhibit focused on ergonomics, hand tools, prevention of secondary injury, and visual contrast solutions. Attendees were interested in the variety of tools and open-captioned videos of solutions used by KAP customers. The most common requests were solutions to help farmers with back injuries and adaptations to help producers who use wheelchairs continue to work small greenhouse or raised bed operations.
In recognition of National FFA week, the Western Kansas KAP ATK site provided over 100 "Youth Livestock Safety" videos to FFA sponsors and ag educators. The videos were provided by the Kansas Hazardous Occupation Training program, which provides compliance with the three pieces of federal legislation governing children in occupational settings: Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Hazardous Occupation Orders for Agriculture (HOOA), and Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).
Submitted by Tawnie Larson