AgrAbility Virginia is excited to have the Virginia Tech, Virginia State University's Small Farm and Outreach Program, and Easterseals UCP team back together to collaborate and move our program forward. AgrAbility Virginia held its first team meeting in early fall and is looking forward to getting project initiatives rolling for 2020. This winter, the work will focus on outreach, to include tabling at several conferences throughout the state.
AgrAbility Virginia also operates in close partnership with Virginia Cooperative Extension's Farm Safety, Health and Wellness Initiative to ensure alignment and synergy across the work. Funded by a Southern Risk Management Education Center Grant, this initiative focuses on intersection of mental health, farm financial, on-farm safety education. A farm stress and health webinar series was launched in November featuring Dr. Deborah Reed of the University of Kentucky.
AgrAbility Virginia also continues to be active in two NSF-funded projects. These projects aim to 1) advance the affordable wearable robotic technologies developed specifically for farmers with mobility restrictions and 2) explore the role of socio-technology to addressing sustainability on small farms. To learn more or to get involved, please visit the Helping Agriculture Remain Vital through Engineering Science and Technology (HARVEST) website: www.harvestrcn.org.
Submitted by Garland Mason