Where Has AgrAbility Been Lately?
- Green Thumbs Projects Gain Recognition
- Agricultural Assessment and Accommodation Training, 2007
- Tractor Modification Fact Sheet
- National AgrAbility Training Workshop, 2006
- Beef Expo
- Lawn and Garden Expo
- Rural Enterprises Conference
- Growing - Then Marketing for Success
- Farming for Profit and Stewardship Conference
If you would like to join WV AgrAbility's monthly e-mail list, contact Stacy Miller at agrability@hsc.wvu.edu
Green Thumbs Projects Gain Recognition
Green Thumbs, Healthy Joints has made an impact in several West Virginia counties this summer, with wheelchair accessible garden beds installed at Peterson Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheeling and at Sunbridge Care and Rehabilitation in Dunbar. Project leaders have documented many volunteer hours, as well as used Green Thumbs funding to leverage additional financial support in their communities.
One of three wheelchair accessible beds built at Peterson Rehabilitation Hospital,
where residents participate in gardening activities.
Rural Rehabilitation: Agricultural Assessment & Accommodation Training
May 18-19, 2007
A group of 20 physical therapists, occupational therapists, and agricultural educators met in Morgantown to complete West Virginia AgrAbility's first ever 'Rural Rehabilitation: Agricultural Assessment and Accommodation' training. Designed to provide therapists with tools to provide relevant treatments to farmers, the ten hour interactive workshop used first-hand client stories, video clips, hands-on assistive technology fabrication, and on-farm clinical exercises. The participants were provided with 'case study' farmers, for which they conducted assessments and provided recommendations for unique modifications to equipment, tools and facilities. See photographs from the training.
New Tractor Modification Fact Sheet Available
If you think that having a physical limitation means that you need to stay out of the driver's seat on your tractor, think again. West Virginia AgrAbility is proud to announce the availability of a new four page fact sheet called 'Tractor Modifications for Changing Lives' that provides an overview of the many potential machinery accommodations available for farmers with physical limitations. To receive a copy of the fact sheet, please call 800-841-8436, or e-mail agrability@hsc.wvu.edu
National AgrAbility Training Workshop, 2006
Nov. 13-16, 2006
AgrAbility staff traveled to Jackson, Mississippi for tours and workshops with AgrAbility staff throughout the United States.
Come back soon to see a video of the QuadTrak, the invention of a Mississippi farmer with a spinal cord injury.
Click here to visit the Quad Trak web site, which has photos of the wheelchair accessible New Holland tractor.
Beef Expo - Weston, WV
April 6-8, 2006
Cattle farm operators from around West Virginia and neighboring states converged on Jackson's Mill for a weekend of auctions, shows, and contests. The AgrAbility exhibit attracted attention with its garden scoot, low rider cart and wire fence stretcher.
Lawn and Garden Expo - Mineral Wells, WV
April 1-2, 2006
Home gardeners, professional landscapers, teachers, and many more stopped by the AgrAbility exhibit to try out some of the newest in ergonomic, adaptive, and labor-saving tools. Kids and adults alike took their turns on the tractor scoot and tried their green thumb in the raised bed with Natural Radius Grip hand trowels.
Rural Enterprises Conference - Camp Dawson, WV
March 25, 2006
West Virginia and Delaware-Maryland AgrAbility Projects teamed up yet again to exhibit at the Garrett-Preston Rural Development Coalition, where the theme was 'It's not 'Just Farming,' It's Business!'. Coit Custer and Stacy Miller presented 'The Bionic Farmer: Preventative Maintenance for the Best Tool Money Can't Buy,' which provided resources on using tools safely and effectively to prevent repetitive stress injury.
Growing - Then Marketing for Success - Morgantown, WV
February 27-March 1, 2006
AgrAbility was on hand a hundred small scale farmers attended workshops on high tunnels, cut flowers, pricing, organic vegetables, and community supported agriculture.
Farming for Profit and Stewardship Conference
January 13-14, 2006
West Virginia AgrAbility teamed up with Delaware-Maryland AgrAbility to develop an exhibit for the 7th Annual Farming for Profit and Stewardship
Conference, hosted by Future Harvest - Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. There they were able to provide ergonomic and arthritis resources to farmers from all over the Mid-Atlantic region, involved in everything from cut flowers to pastured poultry!
