Tennessee
The 2023 AgrAbility National Training Workshop in Spokane, Washington, was another amazing conference! A total of seven individuals from Tennessee attended NTW and gained information that will be useful to the AgrAbility program in Tennessee. Attendees visited colleagues, made new friends, learned from excellent speakers and other state programs, plus there were many opportunities to network with others. Thanks to the wonderful hosts, Washington State AgrAbility Project, and National AgrAbility Project, plus Farm Credit Mid-America for sponsoring all the farmers to attend! The 2024 AgrAbility NTW will be held in GA.
Tennessee AgrAbility and Tennessee Association of Rescue Squads partnered in an exhibit at the FFA Expo in Gatlinburg in March. The goal of the FFA Expo was to provide FFA members and advisors with the opportunity to discover new college, career, and commercial opportunities, and for exhibitors to make meaningful connections with TN FFA members and advisors. With an attendance of 4,500 FFA members and advisors, the Expo was a huge success. TN AgrAbility and TARS spoke to an estimated 1,200 members/advisors. They learned about the TN Grain Bin Safety/Rescue Awareness trainings, TN AgrAbility, and the National AgrAbility assistive technology curriculum for FFA Chapters, and were able to work with and view some cool AT tools.
TN AgrAbility co-hosted with TN State University (TSU) the 2023 TSU Veteran Boot Camp in Nashville at Ellington Agriculture Center. Twenty veteran farmers took part in the three-day event. They learned about the resources available to Tennessee farmers and were provided the opportunity to tour local farms. TN AgrAbility and TSU staff met inspiring veterans who want to farm in TN, and learned about other programs available from UT/TSU Extension and USDA. Producers were able to look at and learn about AT devices provided by TN AgrAbility and the STAR Center in Jackson. A big thank you to the TN Department of Agriculture for the use of the Ellington Ag Center. Thanks is also extended to Jordan Farms, Sweeter Day Farms, Liberty Farms, and Kennedy Farms - and to all the veteran farmers who graciously shared their stories and opened their farms to the group.
March means the start of the 2023 TN New Farmer Academy with beginning farmers eager to learn and dream big. TN AgrAbility provides scholarships to farmers with disabilities to attend annually. Ten scholarships are provided in each of the three regions of the state. This year marked the first year that farmers with hearing impairments planned to attend. To accommodate these farmers, the STAR Center recommended using the free built-in Live Transcribe (Android), or Live Captioning (iOS), or the Hand Talk app that costs approximately $10. TNAP plans to monitor these tools to see how effectively they provide needed assistance.
Submitted by Tennessee AgrAbility Project