To a casual driver on a country back road, a broken farm fence may look like a quaint aberration on a passing landscape. To a Central Florida farmer with 150 cattle to move between pastures, a broken fence is a costly problem and a daily liability. After Hurricane Ian, one such farmer, already battling stage- four cancer, found himself unable to make the repair.
“Once a fence is breached – there’s no more rotational grazing, there’s no more growing hay on a secured pasture. Now, in addition to not being able to grow hay, the farmer has to buy hay for those cows, multiple rolls each day- these problems multiply,” Lindsey Head, a
Case Coordinator for Florida AgrAbility stated. Lindsey’s role is to interview farmers, assess their needs, and connect them with resources. In this case, the fence was fixed, and the farmer was able to resume rotational grazing and reduce operations cost. Through simple, direct actions like this, AgrAbility has netted a 1.1 million dollar return to the Florida Agriculture industry.
Florida AgrAbility operates as a partnership between the University of Florida IFAS Extension and the Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida. The program offers services to farmers with lifelong disabilities, those who have become disabled through accident or illness, and to 4-H youth with disabilities. Florida AgrAbility is part of the National AgrAbility program which operates in 21 states.
On March 11th, the Florida AgrAbility Advisory Board meeting brought in stakeholders from a variety of industries including Vocational Rehab, assisted living, veteran organizations, rural communities and IFAS extension. Their shared commitment is to keep Agriculture
accessible and safe for all farmers and producers regardless of age or ability.
Although AgrAbility is a niche program, they’ve served an impressive 28 clients in 4 years- offering those clients ongoing support and multiple services. “The more people hear about us, the more people will seek us out,” Vanessa Spero, the program’s Outreach Coordinator
said.
AgrAbility offers assistive technology, educational resources, outreach, direct assistance, funding assistance such as researching and applying for funds like hurricane relief grants, equipment loans, one-on-one consultations, and even marketing support. The impact has a ripple effect; even a small farm can feed a community. Helping one person helps many.
The relentless physical demands, exposure to the elements, chemicals, and use of heavy machinery make farming one of the most dangerous occupations in the U.S. Another factor is that the average age of farmers is rising, and that number correlates with increased chance of injury. Farmers with disabilities, whether lifelong or newly acquired, historically have had to adapt their work to their abilities. AgrAbility bridges that gap with assistive technology, educational resources, and outreach programs. Safety training, central to the program’s central mission, helps farmers avoid injury before it happens, serving as a preventative measure to help keep farmers in their fields.
The organization is sustained by volunteers and relies on a network of donors, partners, and the community. “We have decided to proceed with this program even with no USDA funding, even if we have to offer limited resources,” Serap Gorucu, Ph.D., Florida AgrAbility’s Program Director asserted.
Key initiatives include Roots to Work, which teaches people with disabilities the basics of seed planting, propagation, and nursery care, empowering them to find employment and build community, and the Barnyard Challengers, which introduces children to animal
husbandry practices and gives them an opportunity to showcase and auction their laying hens.
AgrAbility’s impact is clear: a program that keeps farmers farming and supports the future of agriculture while meeting the needs of people of varied abilities supports our communities in manifold ways.
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