AgrAbility Harvest 2023 An ingathering of helpful information on disability in agriculture
Laurie Hayn on the farm
Resilience is essentially the ability to bounce back. One dictionary defines it as, “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” Sounds like a lot of the farmers and ranchers AgrAbility serves.
A person’s resilience can mean the difference between continuing to grow in the midst of adverse circumstances or being crushed by them. So, what are the keys to channeling this critical trait? Google provides a myriad of suggestions, but some of the more commonly cited catalysts of resilience include strong relationships, focusing on future goals, acceptance of change, and flexible thinking. Resilient people aren’t necessarily heroes; they’re just able to muster the drive and resources to adapt and keep moving forward.
If you’d like to see a portrait of resilience, check out Laurie Hayn’s story at agrability.info/hayn. While helping with corn harvest in 2018, she was caught in the head of a combine and lost her left arm and leg. With resources from AgrAbility and Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation, combined with her faith and her family’s support, Laurie bounced back quickly into farming and is now sharing hope with others, such as through her keynote address at the 2023 AgrAbility National Training Workshop (NTW).
Another keynote speaker – this one at the Amputee Coalition’s 2023 national conference, where AgrAbility was a presenter and exhibiter – also spoke about and personified resilience. Amy Purdy lost both legs below the knee to bacterial meningitis at the age of 19. However, through resilience, she eventually became a Paralympic medalist in snowboarding and a second-place finisher on Dancing with the Stars. She challenged the audience with this question: “If your life was a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go?” She added that obstacles can either stop us in our tracks or force us to be creative. In Amy’s story, she has made adversity her ally and achieved greater things after incurring disabilities than she dreamed of before them.
Laurie speaking at the NTW
Noted author C.S. Lewis is credited with these words: “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” While our AgrAbility clients might not achieve public fame, each has his or her own destiny, and we as AgrAbility staff are thankful to be in the business of helping them reach full potential.
To help socially disadvantaged populations, including people with disabilities, bounce back from past discrimination, USDA has instituted the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program for those who may have experienced discrimination in obtaining USDA loans. AgrAbility is helping spread the word about this program, and this issue of AgrAbility Harvest contains a special insert regarding it.
Tiffany Jones is the fifth generation to generate income from the farm nestled in the mitten of Michigan, near Falmouth. Her parents Sonya and Doug anchor this multi-generational operation, along with support from Tiffany’s sister Chelsea Smith, her husband Jordan, and their children – the sixth generation – who live down the road.
Although returning the farm to a profit center has been a labor of love, the labor seemed overwhelming in the beginning. “The farm was hard on my knees, hands, and back, due to arthritis,” Sonya says. Doug also has knee pain. In 2020, Tiffany was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and had two surgeries, followed by radiation. “Thyroid is hard to regulate, so fatigue is an issue,” she says.
The Joneses haven’t given up their day jobs. “We all work outside the farm, but love farming so much we can’t stop,” Tiffany says.
The festival ties into the homesteading trend, and the traditions of Moonlit Farm. “Homesteading connects us to our ancestors,” Tiffany says. “It’s amazing to witness each generation change and adapt. We’re building for generations to come, and learning from generations past.”
Pole-Mounted Fruit Picker
Battery-Powered Hand-Held Pruning Shears
Ratcheting Lopper
The Ox Powered Transporter
State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies are crucial to the success of farmers and ranchers with disabilities. For example, since AgrAbility cannot provide funding or equipment through its USDA grants, state VR is often the primary source for acquiring the often expensive assistive technologies that AgrAbility clients need to continue pursuing their livelihoods. However, as with any government agency, regulations can be complicated, and sometimes our farmers have trouble receiving VR services.
Some might envision Florida as mainly a vacation wonderland, but it is also a major agricultural producer. The state grows large percentages of all U.S. citrus fruits, fresh market tomatoes, sweet corn, watermelons, and indoor foliage plants, among many other crops.
This midwestern agricultural powerhouse was one of the original eight AgrAbility states funded in 1991, and it has received USDA funding during approximately 20 of the 30 years that AgrAbility has existed.
AgrAbility historians might remember that South Carolina had an AgrAbility project in the early 1990s, but it’s been without AgrAbility services since then. That drought ended last year when the Clemson University Extension Service submitted a successfully funded proposal in partnership with South Carolina State University (a historically Black 1890 land-grant institution), and Able South Carolina (a center for independent living).
John Hostetler works at a sawmill outside Addison, New York. He’s a member of the Old Order Amish community and has been a wheelchair user for many years. Each workday he commutes five miles to the mill in a Kubota tractor he and a friend modified with a rear-mounted, battery-operated lift, modified steering, and hand controls. AgrAbility Project Director Bill Field recently visited John and tried out the lift.
AgrAbility’s in-person training events are reaching new regions of the country. On October 17-18, 2023, National AgrAbility hosts “Mālama the Farmer: Caring for Yourself and Each Other,” at the Grand Naniloa Hotel in Hawaii. This workshop is planned in conjunction with and supported by the Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program and the University of Hawaii, and will focus on behavioral health resources, assistive technology, preventing injury, and business planning.
The 2024 AgrAbility National Training Workshop is heading for Atlanta, Georgia on March 25-28 at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta/Buckhead. Join hundreds of farmers, ranchers, and professionals from agriculture and rehabilitation for four days of informative breakout sessions, inspiring plenary speakers, and interesting tours.