Each year approximately 1,000 farmers with disabilities receive direct assistance from AgrAbility – a national program funded by the USDA and supported by staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison – for help to continue farming. On a national level, agriculture has one of the highest disabling injury rates of any occupation. And in Wisconsin alone, more than 4,000 farm injuries occur each year, many of which result in permanent disability.

“AgrAbility is important because many farmers with disabilities still have the desire to farm,” says Ron Schuler, leader of the national AgrAbility program and chair of the biological systems engineering department in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Schuler and his colleagues oversee both the state and national AgrAbility programs. “Farming is a way of life. And if a farmer becomes disabled he or she still has the understanding of farming and wants to continue. Our goal is to help them find a way to keep farming, if that is what they want to do.”

Farmers experience a range of disabling injuries on the job, including arthritis, chronic back pain, amputation and respiratory problems. However, Schuler stresses that AgrAbility is designed to help farmers with any type of disability, including those not caused directly by farming.

In each state, the program partners with extension and a non-profit agency. In Wisconsin, AgrAbility staff work with Easter Seals Wisconsin. Easter Seals is also the partner for the national AgrAbility program.

After county extension agents or other counselors refer eligible farmers to the program, a rehabilitation counselor usually visits the individual to determine what changes must be made for the person to continue farming. These could include changing the type of farming, adding steps or a wheelchair lift to a tractor, installing better lighting, using different hand tools or switching to motorized feeding systems.

AgrAbility does not purchase new equipment, but helps farmers apply for grants or other funding. The
Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation frequently provides financial support for new technologies to assist farmers.

AgrAbility began in 1991 in half a dozen states, including Wisconsin, Schuler says. He estimates that about 1,000 Wisconsin farmers have benefited from the program, which has since expanded to 21 states. Two years ago, Wisconsin was chosen to administer the national program. College staff provides training and support, oversees databases of new technologies that may assist farmers with disabilities, and conducts workshops for staff in participating states. The next training workshop will be held Oct. 22-25 in Nashville, Tenn.