National AgrAbility Project

The National AgrAbility team was honored to join several other organizations exhibiting in the Health & Wellness tent at the Farm Progress Show, August 26-28, in Decatur, Illinois. The Farm Progress Show is the nation's largest outdoor farm show, attracting approximately 150,000 visitors annually to see the latest in agricultural technology. The Health and Wellness tent, hosted by Illinois AgrAbility, offered show attendees the opportunity for a variety of free health screenings, as well as highlighting a number of organizations dedicated to improving the well-being of farm and rural residents. The National AgrAbility display included atractor with accessible lift situated just outside the main entrance, along with a variety of AgrAbility resources available for handout within the tent. Over the course of the three-day event, many curious attendees took a "test drive" on the LifeLyfts tractor, and NAP staff were able to engage in conversations with farm families from throughout the U.S. and beyond.

Submitted by Ed Sheldon

July 25, the National AgrAbility Project as a partner in the LIFE Project 2501 grant held a workshop at Martin University in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 9:00 - 5:00. Martin University is a private college founded in 1977 to serve low-income, minority, and adult learners.

Forty people attended the workshop including seven veterans and all of the speakers. Among the attendees was IN State Representative John Bartlett who helped to arrange for the entire workshop to be live-streamed. The NAP was represented by Dr. Bill Field, Ed Sheldon, and Chuck Baldwin. LIFE Project partners there in-person included director John Jamerson and Gabriel Mont-Reynaud (aquaponics specialist). Darrell Anderson ("Chef Joseph" - entrepreneurial specialist) spoke via Zoom. Marty Cotterman from LifeLyfts by Life Essentials was there to display larger AT in the parking lot. Darin Chapman was there representing AgVets.

The sessions were active and well-received. Of particular interest among the exhibitors there was the Mobile Community Grocery Store from Mount Carmel Church. It is a large trailer that has a grocery store inside of it that is primarily used in food-dessert areas of Indianapolis and among the elderly in poorer communities who have difficulty getting out of their homes to go shopping. The Mobile Grocer Store carries fresh foods, refrigerated and frozen foods, canned goods, and lots of items that they know the people in the neighborhoods they go to particularly enjoy.

Submitted by Chuck Baldwin

National AgrAbility and Indiana AgrAbility Assistive Technology Specialist Steve Swain presented "AgrAbility and Assistive Technology in Agriculture" to the PT 6002 clinical education seminar I for the summer 2025 semester at Langston University in Oklahoma. The seminar included information on AgrAbility, both on the state and national levels, assistive technology in agriculture, and farming culture, and students made visits to Langston University farms and reviewed an example farm assessment at a former Oklahoma AgrAbility client. The seminar gave the class farming basics and how disability can affect the operators' physical and mental approach on continuing to farm.

Submitted by Steve Swain