North Carolina

On September 1, North Carolina was awarded by USDA-NIFA with a 2019-2023 AgrAbility grant to support farmers with disabilities in the state. With the main goal of increasing independent living and the quality of life for agricultural workers with disabilities, NC AgrAbility will be providing agricultural farm workers and their families with farm safety education, assistive technology assistance, and networking support.

NC AgrAbility was invited to train NRCS agents on how to work with veterans and disabled farmers at the NRCS annual meeting in Morganton on September 11. The event was attended by around 45 NRCS agents from the western region in NC. It was a great opportunity for networking and increasing awareness about working with farmers with disabilities. Most of the agents who participated at the event enrolled in the NC AgrAbility listserv and one of them committed to serving on the NC AgrAbility Advisory Board.

NC AgrAbility participated as an exhibitor at the first Hispanic Farmers and Agricultural Professionals Symposium which was held Friday, September 13 at the North Carolina Farm Bureau headquarters in Raleigh. Over 125 people from the southeastern region attended; among them, 39 Hispanic farmers had the opportunity to connect and learn about the different resources available to them in the U.S.

The NC AgrAbility advisory board met for the first time in the new cycle on September 18. The board is gaining more members from various organizations across the state and from other departments at NCA&T. In an effort to gain a better understanding of the issues that NC AgrAbility faces in serving the NC farmers, the meeting was held at the NC A&T farm and ended with touring the farm while opening discussion about how to better assist and educate farmers with disabilities in North Carolina.

NC AgrAbility was invited to the NCA&T county operations Zoom Meeting on September 20. At this meeting, county Extension directors and county Extension agents had the opportunity to learn more about the services provided by NC AgrAbility and about how to refer farmers to the program for direct services. They were also provided information about the educational activities that NC AgrAbility has that can be used when they have activities with farmers in their counties.

On September 21, Dr. Crystal Kyle and Beatriz Rodriguez were invited as keynote speakers at the Beekeepers and Farmers Conference at the Hill Family Farm and Educational Center in Whitakers, NC. The event was attended by around 40 participants who learned about NC AgrAbility among many other interesting topics provided by the Bee Excellent Association and the USDA NRCS program.

NC AgrAbility participated as an exhibitor and presenter at the Assistive Technology Vendor EXPO in Raleigh, NC, on September 26. This event is the largest gathering of vendors who help individuals with disabilities across the state. It provided hands-on assistive technology demos and a 20-minute vendor training. This year, the event was attended by more than 350 participants.

Submitted by Beatriz (Betty) Rodriguez