Farmers facing the physical challenges of a disability, chronic condition or aging have a number of new technologies available to help them stay in the profession they love, according to experts at AgrAbility.
AgrAbility is a program first established in the 1990 Farm Bill to help “enhance quality of life for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers with disabilities, so that they, their families, and their communities continue to succeed in rural America.” The program funds state and regional projects in 22 states.
In a recent presentation at the 2024 AgrAbility National Training Workshop, Karen Funkenbusch, an AgrAbility project director in Missouri, highlighted emerging technologies to help farmers.
“Most farmers are working in their chosen occupation and things in life may happen that create physical challenges, but they still want to be able to farm,” she said. “Farmers also tend to ‘age in place’ and they don’t want to pack up and move to town. I have some clients who are still farming in their 90s.”
Having access to technology that can help with things like decreased mobility, eyesight or other factors, is a real possibility in 2024, according to Funkenbusch.
Items highlighted included Ghost gate openers that enable owners to use their cell phones with a customized app to open automatic gates, a small weed-eating robot for garden areas, straight and curved chairlifts for stairs, as well as drone technology to aid in crop and livestock monitoring.
People are also reading…
A new artificial intelligence device, the OrCam MyEye, allows users to clip a scanning device on their glasses that can read items aloud to the user and can be activated by voice command, hand gestures or a touch bar. The manufacturer said it has a scan-to-text capability, and it starts reading from any surface and from any point of the text. The technology can recognize faces, instantly identify products, discern clothing colors and make the process of paying for things easier by ensuring you have the correct money notes in hand – making everyday tasks easier for those with vision loss.
The ReWalk device is also helping farmers with mobility issues by providing a robotics-based exoskeleton to help those with spinal or mobility issues to be able to walk again, Funkenbusch noted.
One development Funkenbusch felt was worth noting was the Monarch tractor, a smaller line of autonomous, battery-powered tractors with up to 14 hours of battery per charge.
“Most farms have a tractor on site, but this is the tractor of the future,” Funkenbusch said. “The tractor is 100 percent electric and can become data-driven and self-driving. It has 40-70 horsepower and a 540 PTO.”
Having technologies like this available helps farmers not only with the physical part of farming, but can also help with mental health, Funkenbusch said.
“For many people, their physical disability can also affect their mental health, but adaptive technologies can help take away stress and fatigue,” she said. “It can improve or maintain a farmer’s quality of life and help remove physical barriers while preventing secondary injuries.”
For more information about the AgrAbility program, visit www.agrability.org.