Eric Schachtler is back farming. Born and raised on a farm in New York , he grew up working around the farm. At age 13 he developed a cyst on his spinal cord that left him with partial paralysis. Using crutches or his wheelchair, however, he continued helping with farm chores.

Following high school graduation, Eric was hired as a file clerk at a nearby Air Force base. He took advantage of every available educational opportunity the Air Force offered and eventually received his Master's Degree in Business Administration. Eric moved into management positions and was supervising the logistics area in 1995 when the Air Force base was closed. He was offered a position in North Carolina where he was a program manager in charge of overhauling aircraft engines.

In 2002, when his father had a stroke, Eric took an early retirement and returned home to run the family farm. With his nephew, Chris, they milk 56 cows in a stanchion barn. Eric does the business planning, record and crop management, and field work. A number of circumstances necessitated that Eric apply for and receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Eric views this as a temporary arrangement. He intends to be self-sufficient and eventually buy the family farm from his parents through a partnership with his nephew.

Eric believes that the most competitive route for a small dairy farmer is to have robotic milkers. Robotic milkers reduce the labor needed, plus, as Eric says, they show up to milk every day. He also believes that robotics will monitor the health of the animal better than a small operator can. He would hope to milk 120 cows with this system.

Realizing that the robotic system is new and innovative, Eric started searching for assistance. The New York AgrAbility Project helped Eric in learning more about the feasibility of using a robotic milking system. He found the New York AgrAbility Team supportive and interested in helping him. Eric sought financial support for funding the purchase of robotic equipment by writing a grant to the New York State Energy Resource Development Authority (NYSERDA). New York AgrAbility helped in the development of his proposal. Unfortunately, his proposal was not funded due to changes in the grant funding priorities. He continues to look for alternative funding resources and welcomes any suggestions or ideas.

Shortly after Eric became involved with AgrAbility, the New York Project was selected as a pilot state for the National AgrAbility Project's Self Employment Assistance Training Initiative. The initiative employed the services of Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC, to train staff on how to use government resources to develop self employment plans. Griffin-Hammis Associates provided Eric with one-on-one assistance on how Social Security work incentives could be used to help develop capital for his business. As part of the pilot project's objective, New York AgrAbility also assembled a Business Development Team (BDT). The New York AgrAbility BDT is made up of extension farm management experts, rehabilitation personnel, small business educators from the financial industry, benefits planning assistance and outreach analysts (BPAO), and AgrAbility staff. Eric met with the team and received advice on fine-tuning his business plan and in considering alternative enterprises.

To date, Eric has developed short-term and long - term business goals. His short-term plan involves adding a tie-stall barn to his existing barn so he can milk an additional 50 cows. He has secured a conventional loan for building the addition and is presently supervising its construction. The long-range goal is to convert to the robotic system to milk up to 120 cows. He would convert the tie-stall to a robotic system and add another building. The old barn would be used for dry cows and heifers. Eric would use the Social Security (SSA) work incentives to set aside money toward the purchase of the robotic equipment. In addition, the New York AgrAbility Project connected Eric to the state-operated vocational rehabilitation program, which in New York is the Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID). He anticipates additional support for the robotic system from VESID. As in most complex cases, however, this will be a long-term process requiring an ongoing commitment from both Eric and the AgrAbility staff.