AgrAbility Quarterly. Tom Holm - Looking Back on an Idaho Farmer's Journey

Client Story: Tom Holm

Looking Back on an Idaho Farmer’s Journey

As Tom Holm drives his pick-up truck down the winding county road dividing his 4,000 acre farm, he can’t help but reflect on his life’s many accomplishments. With the backdrop of Idaho’s Grand Teton Mountain range surrounding him, he’s satisfied with the life farming has to offer. From a bicycle accident as a young boy to nearly going bankrupt in the late 1990’s, the mountains in the distance represent the many uphill battles he has overcome.

Full color photo of farmer Tom Holm holding soil in his hand to test for moisture amounts.
Tom Holm checks the soil in his potato field to test the moisture.

Tom Holm grew up near Idaho Falls, Idaho on the farm he now operates with his father, two brothers and one son. Del Ray Holm & Sons Farm cultivates 2,500 acres of wheat, 1,000 acres of alfalfa, and 500 acres of potatoes each year. These combined acres yield 150,000 hundred-pound sacks of potatoes, 150,000 bushels of wheat and 6,900 tons of alfalfa per year. Although this agricultural operation is a productive family farm, Tom’s path to success wasn’t an easy one.

When Tom was thirteen years old, he was riding his bicycle down a gravel road near his farm when he was struck by a car filled with teenagers. The accident resulted in a herniated disc in his lower back and a broken left shoulder. Thirty-seven years later, surgeries have resolved the shoulder difficulties, but unfortunately Tom still deals with extreme low back pain. Progressive wear and tear on his body from the average fourteen-hour day he puts in from May through October, plus daily driving to oversee his farming operation, has exacerbated his back condition.

Since 1985, Tom has undergone two unsuccessful back surgeries. The first was an experimental surgery that involved injecting an enzyme into the herniated disc, which ended up dissolving the disc completely. In an attempt to correct the negative effects of this surgery, doctors fused several vertebrae together to prevent them from rubbing against one another. This second surgery significantly decreased Tom’s flexibility and increased his discomfort. To help manage the pain himself, Tom uses self-directed treatment remedies that include a magnetic belt worn to prevent muscle spasms, an inversion table to decrease pressure on his back, and an infrared sauna bath. “When you are a farmer, you have to ignore the pain and keep going, because you cannot quit. The work will not get done if there’s no one to do it,” he explained.

Full color photo of Tom Hom trying out a different seat cushion in his tractor.
Tom tries a different seat cushion in his tractor.

To add to Tom’s health concerns, running a multi-crop, family farm has proven to be financially stressful, as well. While doctors were telling him he would have to quit farming and move on to another occupation that would better accommodate his back condition, rising production costs and a plunging farm economy were also pushing him to give up farming.

With an escalating debt threatening his farm, Tom was determined that he “would get through this, no matter how difficult times were.” Close to bankruptcy in 1997, Tom decided to take political action. With the help of former congressman, Ralph Hardy (D-ID), and local Idaho Falls businesses, Tom and other struggling family farmers in the Idaho Falls area traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with then U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman. As a result of these lobbying efforts, a Potato Diversion Program was implemented in 1997 and again in the year 2000, raising the price of potatoes from one penny to eight cents per pound. Tom’s reflection on this crisis is, “To get through the hard times, you got to keep trying and one day you’ll get what you want out of it.”

Once Tom’s financial difficulties had subsided, he decided to focus his attention back to his health. In early October of 2007, Tom came across an Idaho AgrAbility article in Idaho Farm and Ranch Today magazine. He called the toll-free number and connected with Kathy Griffin at Idaho AgrAbility. After speaking with Tom, Kathy arranged for Janice Sergeant, an occupational therapist and assistive technology practitioner located near Idaho Falls, to meet with Tom.

Later that month, Janice visited Del Ray Holm & Sons Farm to do an on-site farm assessment. Tom walked Janice through a typical work day on his farm and showed her the types of equipment used in daily operations. While observing how Tom used his machinery, Janice noticed that the seats in his skid loader, backhoe, tractor, and pick-up truck didn’t offer enough lumbar support for Tom’s compromised lower back. Realizing the many hours Tom spends daily operating his equipment, Janice suggested a seat cushion for improved lumbar sacral support and recommended an Air Ride Seat for the truck. Another suggestion included adding lever extensions to the hand controls so Tom could maintain a neutral position rather than leaning forward to reach the controls. Janice and Tom created lever extensions which work well. Janice also referred Tom to Idaho Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) where he met with a counselor and agreed to develop an employment plan following recovery from his third back surgery scheduled in the Fall of 2008. With the help of Janice’s recommended modifications, Tom’s pain level has remained stable instead of worsening. Tom sees this as an improvement that makes handling the long work days easier. In the future, Tom hopes to add the Air Ride Seat to his pick up.

Tom’s proactive personality demonstrates a readiness to take action not only for his physical well-being, but also for his farm and community. His determination, along with help from Idaho AgrAbility, has allowed him to continue his farming lifestyle. “I love farming. Unless someday I’m a politician or movie star, I will continue farming the rest of my life,” Tom says.

NEXT: Focus – Potato Farming

In This Issue
Section 1: Client Story Section 2: Focus Section 3: Assistive Technology	Section 4: State Project Feature Section 5: References Section 6: Contacts