Tennessee

The University of Tennessee Extension Center for Profitable Agriculture (CPA) (https://cpa.tennessee.edu/), umbrella for TN AgrAbility, celebrated 25 years in September, hosting a reception for farmers, partners, and collaborators at the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation office in Columbia. CPA helps farmers develop value-added enterprises. Over 100 guests were in attendance to listen to producers and other partners speak of their positive relationship with the center and its role with value-added agriculture in Tennessee.

USDA/NIFA hosted a webinar on Monday, September 18, at 1:00 p.m. EDT, about NIFA-funded programs supporting farm safety and farm safety education. Troy Dugger, TN AgrAbility project director, was one of the panelists of project directors from the Assistive Technology Program for Farmers with Disabilities (AgrAbility) or the Youth Farm Safety Education and Certification (YFSEC) Program. The panel explored how communities are promoting safety in agriculture by developing agricultural educators; providing technical assistance to farm workers and farmers; and training the next generation of agriculturalists to prevent injuries and fatalities on the farm.

Three hundred twenty-five people attended the 2023 TSU TN Small Farm Expo held in Nashville. They highlighted their mission "Support. Engage. Invent." with exhibits and research tours. TN AgrAbility enjoyed networking with farmers and TN ag partners throughout the day with over 100 participants stopping by their AgrAbility educational booth.

Star Center, TN AgrAbility's nonprofit partner, celebrated and raised awareness in September for the Annual Deaf Awareness Campaign, which celebrated those who are deaf and stood in support for new technologies, social inclusion, and awareness. It helps to see the highly concerted global advocacy to raise awareness about the deaf community on different levels. The campaign was about gathering together and showing the unity to the rest of the world. September brought a wonderful chance to learn more about the deaf community and what people can do to show their support!

Congratulations to UT Gardens Horticultural Therapy (HT) program, which won 2nd place and $1,500 in the 2023 National Garden Bureau Therapeutic Garden Grant. Monetary funds will allow the HT program to add new adaptive garden beds to the therapeutic garden located next to the south greenhouse. These beds will be used for the horticultural therapy program and will provide a demonstration site for visitors to learn about adaptive garden beds. The contest, hosted by National Garden Bureau, American Meadows, Ball Horticultural Company, and Sakata Seed America, was an effort to raise awareness of horticulture and the benefits of gardening. Check out the winning video submission: UT Gardens Hort Therapy video - YouTube.

UT Gardens is one of TN AgrAbility's/UT Extension's partners. UT Gardens started a horticultural therapy certification program, Horticultural Therapy Outreach | UT Gardens - The State Botanical Garden of Tennessee, and has hosted several HT workshops for veterans, and created gardening videos for lunch and learn projects for Frontline Gardens and Master Gardeners. Lunch and Learn - Frontline Gardens.

One hundred fifty beef and forage producers attended the Beef & Forage Field Day held on the grounds of the Middle TN AgResearch & Education Center in Spring Hill, TN. Brain Robinson, TN Association of Rescue Squads state training coordinator, was the keynote lunch speaker. Brian's speech to the lunch crowd was titled, "If today was your last day...Safety on the Farm". Brian is also the training coordinator working with TN AgrAbility on the TN Grain Bin Safety & Rescue trainings for producers and rescue personnel.

Troy Dugger, TN AgrAbility project director, spoke with a Giles County poultry and beef farmer at the Beef & Forage Field Day. They talked about the everyday operations of having two poultry barns and two more in the making. This farmer spoke of picking up 200 eggs a day off the floor of the barns. He mentioned he was using a short-handled grabber and the TN AgrAbility staff introduced him to the long-handled grabber. He said he had never seen one that long and was happy to be able to take it home and try it. He said that he could already tell that walking the barns numerous times a day and bending over to pick up eggs was taking a toll on his body.

The Greater Gibson County, Milan, and Humboldt Chambers of Commerce hosted a "Non-Profit Fair" for their youth leadership class. Non-profit partner of TN AgrAbility, STAR Center, set up a display. This event was attended by the top 20 academically achieving high school Juniors from Gibson County. STAR included TN AgrAbility in the information provided. Time was spent at each table learning about each agency's work in Gibson County and how they can volunteer and make an impact in their community. The students were very engaged and were able to have hands-on experiences with different assistive technology tools.

Submitted by Tennessee AgrAbility Project