April 2022: AgrAbility PA Project Highlights

Published by agrabilitypa on April 1, 2022April 1, 2022

Spring has sprung in Pennsylvania! Activities across the state and beyond have kept AgrAbility PA staff members busy, busy, busy!

April began with Outreach Coordinator Kendra Martin attending a conference hosted by PA Veteran Farming Network. This annual event drew more than 100 Veterans from across the state. Several organizations shared resources and information to support Veterans who are now farming.

Kendra Martin at the 2022 PA Veteran Farming Network Annual Conference

Conference toolkit: https://www.troopstotractors.org/2022-conference-toolkit...

AgrAbility PA was highlighted during a statewide PSU Extension Support Staff meeting with the goal being to equip extension staff on how to promote and refer people to AgrAbility within the extension county offices.

Case Coordinator & Project Assistant Abbie Spackman provided a training session to the PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) FARM Coordinator staff – 25 coordinators from across the state. The training focused on working with AgrAbility to provide high level services to farmers, assistive technology options, and how to select accurate, safe, and effective assistive technology. The training also included proper practices for visiting a farm, including preparations, biosecurity considerations, and what to expect during a farm assessment.

AgrAbility PA participated in the PA Farm Link Board Meeting hosted at Rodale Institute – great networking opportunity with a partner organization and many agricultural support organizations from across the state – all with the focus of supporting farmers and farm families.

Project Manager Linda Fetzer co-presented the Communicating with Farmers under Stress workshop for ag service providers in the northwest part of the state. There were 6 workshops across the state and they were funded by the PA Department of Agriculture’s USDA-NIFA state-FRSAN grant and were a partnership with the Center for Dairy Excellence in Pennsylvania.

AgrAbility and the topic of person-first language was featured as the DEI training via Zoom for Penn State Extension Customer Relation Managers on April 21. Project Director Suzanna Windon continued her academic research, presentations, and outreach in the topics of leadership, stress, and agriculture at a dozen or more professional conferences, including internationally. Suzanna has also served as a panelist or speaker on the topic of conflict & agriculture in Ukraine. Suzanna is a native Ukrainian and is the Director of Ukrainian Ag and Rural Development Program for Penn State University.