Nebraska

Nebraska AgrAbility rural rehabilitation specialists Kara Brichacek and Teresa Duffek attended the regional training hosted by the National AgrAbility Project in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They shared their experiences...

Kara shares, "The first day we discussed disability etiquette, nonprogressive and progressive medical conditions. The second day we learned tips and guidelines for farm assessment interviews and observations. We were able to see this executed later that day as we traveled to a local farm and performed an assessment on a farmer named Jane. The final day we learned about the vast variety of assistive technology and apps that are available. We were also able to follow up with the farmer we previously visited to share our questions and insights with her."

Teresa said "The regional meeting in Michigan was extremely insightful. We met a lot of people, networked, learned how states had different approaches to providing services. We visited a farm with a husband and wife that were both receiving AgrAbility services. On the last day we met a flower farmer who was an AgrAbility client. He had a very interesting history and story to tell. In Nebraska, we think about farmers growing corn, soybean, and wheat and raising hogs and poultry while ranchers raise cattle and grow hay. It was enlightening to see a flower farmer and meet people from Maine and Canada involved in the fishing and forestry farming. Farming is so diverse, and I met such interesting people. We also learned more about writing assessments and some very neat assistive technologies. Topics of the week included disability etiquette, non-progressive and progressive medical conditions. This is so important when doing an assessment because what you see today and what the needs of the farmer/rancher are at the time, may be completely different six months from now. It was a great learning experience."

Submitted by Soni Cochran