2017 Virtual NTW

2017 VNTW Archives: February 21-23

Click on presentation title to view the webinar recording

Tuesday, February 21

  • 11:00 a.m. EST: Farm Hands: Maximizing Hand Health for the Workplace
    • Presentation file
    • Carla Wilhite and Trish Siegel, University of New Mexico
      • This session will introduce participants to the structure of the hand, its functions, and to mechanisms and types of injuries in farm work environments. Participants will focus on identifying strategies for prevention of primary and secondary injury of the hand, and maintaining general hand health in the agricultural workplace.
  • 3:00 p.m. EST: Resources for Veteran Farmers/Ranchers
    • Presentation file 
    • Erin Kimbrough, Texas AgrAbility
      • This presentation will highlight key resources for participants regarding programs specific for veterans and projects that serve this population. The session will provide education regarding the new BattleGround to Breaking Ground Entrepreneurial Training project that provides mentorships, online courses, and individual education plans to veterans and other beginning farmer/ranchers. The webinar will include time for projects to network and suggest additional resources.

Wednesday, February 22

  • 11:00 a.m. EST: Assistive Technology to Prevent Secondary Injury in Aging Farmers
    • Presentation file 
    • Ned Stoller, Michigan AgrAbility
      • As workers age, they are faced with increasing rates of arthritis, back pain, decreased strength/endurance, hearing impairments and other medical conditions.  These conditions increase the likelihood of slips and falls, being pushed by fast-moving livestock, accidents with machinery, and other dangers.  Assistive technology can help mitigate the impact of aging conditions and help older farmers work with more safety. The cost of assistive technology and safety is significantly less than the expense of injury on the farm.
  • 3:00 p.m. EST: Updates from NIFA on AgrAbility and Related Programs
    • Presentation file 
    • Aida Balsano, USDA/NIFA
      • AgrAbility’s NIFA program leader discusses the latest developments at the federal level affecting AgrAbility and related programs.

Thursday, February 23

  • 11:00 a.m. EST: Farm Service Agency (FSA) Farm Loan Programs
    • Presentation file
    • Norman Cummins, USDA/FSA
      • This session gives an overview of FSA’s Farm Loan Programs, such as those that offer opportunities to farmers and ranchers to:
        • Start, improve, expand, transition, market, and strengthen family farming and ranching operations
        • Beginning farmers, racial and ethnic minority farmers and women producers
        • Value-added, direct sale, organic, and specialty crop operations
        • Young People actively involved in agricultural youth organizations needing financial assistance for income-producing, educational, agricultural projects
        • Urban farmers and roof-top producers
        • Operations using alternative farming methods such as hydroponics, aeroponics, vertical farming, and freight container farming
  • 3:00 p.m. EST: Getting to the Bottom: AgrAbility’s Discussion on Seating Issues in Agricultural Machinery
    • Presentation file
    • Carla Wilhite, University of New Mexico
      • This “unconferencing” online group discussion session will focus on “what is known and unknown” about seating people with disabilities, especially those with spinal cord injuries, into agricultural machinery. The group will work toward prioritizing issues and making recommendations on where evidence needs to be developed to support the selection and implementation of interventions in seating. (Please note that this session will have a different URL than the others, so please make sure you specifically register for it if you plan to attend.)

Past VNTW Archives

Click here for archived webinars from the AgrAbility Webinar Series