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Promoting Success in Agriculture for People with Disabilities and Their Families

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Spring 2005, Vol. 5, No. 3

Table of Contents at bottom PDF Version

Breaking New Ground (BNG) began in 1979 when a farmer with paraplegia called Purdue University looking for assistance in getting back onto his tractor. The call was routed to Bill Field, the Extension safety specialist, who took a team of student engineers to visit the farmer and eventually developed a tractor lift, which enabled him to mount the tractor and return to his livelihood.

At the time of BNG’s inception, few other programs had attempted to address the challenges of farming with a disability. There was not a federal funding structure for such projects, so during the 1980s BNG operated through a variety of grants and donations, including start-up funding from Deere & Company and continued for several years through funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s NIDRR program.

The BNG Outreach Program, which provides technical assistance to Indiana farmers, served as a prime model for the AgrAbility Program and became one of the initial state projects funded in 1991. In addition to technical assistance to individuals, program staff members have also provided direct services to hundreds of rural businesses, churches, county fairgrounds, and Extension offices. The BNG Resource Center was established to develop technical resources, conduct research on rural disability issues, and respond to informational needs outside Indiana. The BNG Resource Center, partnered with National Easter Seals, functioned as the National AgrAbility Project lead from 1991-2000.

In 1996, the BNG Resource Center established a nationwide, toll-free helpline; thereby providing another valuable service resource to consumers and professionals. More than 16,000 calls have been received on the helpline from nearly every state in the U.S. and even from several foreign countries.

The BNG Resource Center has produced more than 50 print, audiovisual, and electronic resources covering a wide range of topics related to disability in agriculture and rural life. The BNG newsletter, published between 1982 and 2000, included 28 technical reports that targeted specific disability-related issues. Agricultural Tools, Equipment, Machinery, and Buildings for Farmers and Ranchers with Disabilities (The Toolbox), 4 th edition, have been some of the program’s most highly acclaimed resources. The award-winning To Everything There is a Season kit for rural caregivers has spawned numerous caregiving workshops in several states. The Perfect Fit and Bridging Horizons educational resources were designed and introduced to encourage full inclusion of rural youth with disabilities in traditional 4-H and FFA programs. The most recent publication from BNG is Arthritis and Agriculture released in 2004 with more than 6500 copies distributed to date.

Since the early 1980’s, BNG has also invested significant time and energy in conducting conferences and workshops related to disability in agriculture, including 10 National AgrAbility Training Workshops, 2 national assistive technology conferences, 14 Caregiving in the Heartland workshops, and over 30 consumer workshops in more than 20 states and 4 Canadian provinces.

The quality of BNG’s services has been validated by national awards from a variety of organizations, including the National Safety Council’s 2001 First Place Award for the Improvement in the Quality of Life for People with Disabilities and the 2002 RESNA Leadership Award. BNG has also received more than 10 Blue Ribbon Awards from the American Society of Agricultural Engineers for papers, Extension methods, and Extension publications.

Some of the projects most recently initiated by BNG include the Bridging Horizons FFA Contest and self-employment workshops/counseling for people with disabilities. The Bridging Horizons Contest challenges Indiana FFA chapters to complete service projects related to accommodating disability within their communities. The self-employment initiative, begun as a pilot project through the National AgrAbility Project, has already assisted approximately 10 consumers in developing business plans and several have been approved by Vocational Rehabilitation.

Through the years, BNG programs have provided no-cost, on-site assessments to thousands of farmers and ranchers in Indiana and other states. In many cases, these visits have been pivotal in the future of the particular farm and farm family. As the needs of rural and farm families impacted by disability have changed, BNG has responded by adapting some of its services. What has not changed, however, is the mission of the program to cultivate greater independence for all people with disabilities, especially those involved in the production of our food and fiber.