National AgrAbility Project

The National AgrAbility Project helped staff the AgrAbility booth again this year at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. Chuck Baldwin (NAP) worked there with Annie Klahn of AgrAbility of Wisconsin for a couple of days. This year's World Dairy Expo also set a new record for the number of animals housed during the event. The previous record, set in 2008, was 2,657 animals; the 2022 show housed 2,663.

The crowds were also large - 54,525 total tickets sold of which 1,375 attendees were international with the top five countries being Mexico, Canada, Germany, Brazil, and Columbia. There were an additional 37,614 unique viewers via digital-EXPOTV with the top five viewing countries being USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, and India. A full event summary can be read by clicking HERE.

One memorable moment at the AgrAbility booth came when a young boy of about 11 stopped to look at the table-top model of a tractor with a lift on it provided by AgrAbility of WI. He turned excitedly to his parents and said, "Mom and Dad! This tractor has a lift on it that could really help Grandpa get into his tractor!" The couple explained that their son worked regularly alongside his grandpa and often had to assist the older man in getting onto or off of the tractor. However, if his grandpa fell getting down, he was too small to break the fall. They were excited about what they saw at the exhibit and took some literature, saying they would contact AgrAbility later.

Submitted by Chuck Baldwin

The National AgrAbility Project participated with the SAY Group in a safety exhibit at the 2022 National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. Convention attendance was estimated at over 63,000 FFA members, advisors, and family members. Safety groups represented included Gearing Up for Safety, the National Farm Medicine Center/National Children's Center, CareerSafe, the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health, AgriSafe, The Ohio State Safety Program, the Grain Handling Safety Council, University of Illinois safety program, Progressive Agriculture Foundation, Central States Center for Ag Safety and Health at the University of Nebraska, Penn State Safety Program, and the Utah State University Safety Program.

Submitted by Steve Swain