Kansas

The National AgrAbility Project regional workshop held in Manhattan, Kansas, on November 16-18 was a success with participants from Ohio, Denmark, and across Kansas. The workshop began with Tess McKeel from National AgrAbility presenting QPR training, a suicide prevention program much like CPR that gives a person skills to assist someone in crisis. The QPR training was followed by Jason Walker with the Kansas Department of Agriculture sharing how they are utilizing grant funds from the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) on State Department of Agriculture (SDA) projects. Wednesday's programming included an AgrAbility overview by Tess McKeel; "Farming with Less Muscle" by Lucinda Stuenkel from Sunny Day Farms; "SAVE Farm, a Veteran Ranch" presented by Tod Bunting; "Insider Tips for Getting the Most from Vocational Rehabilitation" by Dennis Ford; "Farm Rescue" with Lynne Henrichsen; "Business Planning" offered by NE KS Frontier Farm Credit; and "Working with Veterans" presented by Ft Riley Solider Recovery Unit's OT, Jill Sump. Farm tours wrapped up the conference on Thursday with visits to the Wheat Innovation Center, Lazy T Ranch, and a Konza Prairie bison tour.

Kansas AgrAbility friend and Poet Lariat, Ron Wilson from Lazy T Ranch, provided the gift of one of his unique poems, "AgrAbility." Ron Wilson Lazy T Ranch AgrAbility Poem.pdf (k-state.edu) and FB Video of Ron Wilson delivering poem (Video credit to Tess McKeel.)

Submitted by Tawnie Larson