National AgrAbility Project

AgrAbility Regional Workshops
The Regional Workshop in Manhattan, Kansas, on November 16-18 was a success. There were 36 attendees discussing topics on suicide prevention, help for farmers in crisis, veterans, VR, business planning, and tips for working while using less muscle. Twenty-one attendees toured the Wheat Innovation Center on the K-State campus, took a hayride, ate lunch, heard a poem about AgrAbility at Lazy T Ranch, and then toured the K-State Konza Prairie Biological Station. Check out the video of the poem being read.

Submitted by Goodwill of the Finger Lakes

The NAP's Veteran Outreach Coordinator, Cindy Chastain, attended and presented at the Regional Farmer Veteran Coalition Conference in Knoxville, TN, on the 18th of November. AgrAbility was a strong supporter of this conference; Eileen Legault of Tennessee AgrAbility was on the organizing committee, as was the FVC of TN staff. Virginia and Texas AgrAbility were also well-represented. Approximately 150 veterans and stakeholders were in attendance. The Regional FVC Conference scheduled for Tacoma, WA, for Dec 19th was canceled.

Submitted by Cindy Chastain

Ed Sheldon and Chuck Baldwin represented the National AgrAbility Project at the National Black Farmers Conference in Boydton, VA, November 5-6. The annual NBFA conference includes both the NBFA and the Association of American Indian Farmers (AAIA). The theme of this year's conference was "ReClaiming, ReGaining & ReGenerating Our Farms". Approximately 50 people attended the conference in-person, but all of the conference sessions on Friday and on Saturday morning were transmitted via Zoom to a much wider audience.

Ed and Chuck presented an intro to AgrAbility's services and shared their 55 minutes of Zoom time with NAP's partners in a 2501 grant, the LIFE (Legacy Innovation Farming Economics) Project, represented by John Jamerson (Legacy Farming and Health Group) and Tameka Peoples (Peoples Foundation).

For the second year in a row, the conference was held on Dr. John Boyd's farm and the Saturday activities included a hog roast and concert with performances by a local church choir, blues music by DeiDra and the Ruff Pro Band, and a special appearance by KJ Skippa Mak Marley, the grandson of the late Bob Marley.

Submitted by Chuck Baldwin