Maine AgrAbility with Bella Russo and Brie Weisman

On this episode of the Maine Farmcast, Glenda and Colt are joined by Bella Russo, Director of Maine AgrAbility, and Brie Weisman, occupational therapist, to discuss Maine AgrAbility.

Addressing health, safety, and the prevention of injuries across the state of Maine— on the farm, on the water, and in the forest. The Maine AgrAbility project is dedicated to helping farmers, fishermen, and forest workers work safely and more productively. Maine AgrAbility is designed to assist owners, operators, managers, employees, and family members of farm, fishing or forestry businesses. We offer education for agricultural workers whose lifestyle and business have been impacted by a disability. We provide training and education to health care providers, agricultural professionals, emergency response agencies, and other community groups about agricultural workers with disabilities.

Maine AgrAbility programming is funded through a grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. We network with many existing resources and help provide connections for agricultural workers and their families. Maine AgrAbility addresses a wide variety of disabling conditions, including, but not limited to, arthritis, spinal cord injuries/paralysis, back impairments, amputations, brain injury, visual impairments, hearing impairments, disabling diseases, cerebral palsy, respiratory impairments, and head injury.

To learn more about Maine AgrAbility please check out the website:
https://extension.umaine.edu/agrability/

You can contact Maine AgrAbility at:
138 Pleasant Street, Suite #1
Farmington, Maine 04938-5828
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability physical or mental, genetic information, or veterans or military status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 5713 Chadbourne Hall, Room 412, University of Maine, Orono, ME  04469-5713, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).

Creators & Guests

Host

Colt Knight

Colt grew up in a coal mining family in West Virginia where they also operated a small family farm and show horse stable. During academic breaks and between schools, he worked in strip mines across the country. Colt earned his B.S. in Animal Science at the University of Kentucky, M.S. in Animal Science at Angelo State University, and his Ph.D. in Animal Science at the University of Arizona in 2006, 2012, and 2016, respectively. In the fall of 2016, he worked on a postdoc with Dr. Derek Bailey at New Mexico State University. Since 2017, Colt W. Knight works as an Assistant Professor of Extension for the University of Maine where he serves as the State Livestock Specialist. He teaches Introduction to Animal Science (AVS 145) and runs the Maine Grazing Behavior Lab. The core focus of the Grazing Behavior lab revolves around designing and manufacturing livestock tracking collars, engaging in applied grazing behavior research, and assisting other researchers with technology to interpret animal behavior. Dr. Knight’s research is broadly focused on selecting animals uniquely adapted to landscapes and promoting sustainable agriculture. Colt is the current chair for the Society of Range Management Livestock Foraging Behavior Committee, as well as, the North East Region Chair for the National Association of County Agricultural Agent’s Teaching and Educational Technology Committee. He also serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Ecological Processes. Colt is actively engaged in outreach and has delivered over 150 seminars on livestock production since starting his career at the University of Maine.

Host

Glenda Pereira

As the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Dairy Specialist, Dr. Pereira conducts applied research and develops educational programs for dairy and livestock producers across the state of Maine and New England. While the Holstein breed is near and dear to her heart, Dr. Pereira admires the Normande breed and her favorite dairy products are sour cream and ice cream.

Host

Rachel White

Rachel is a Sustainable Agriculture and Livestock Educator based out of Hancock county. Her objectives include education, research, and programming about agriculture in Washington and Hancock counties and with small ruminants and poultry across the state. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Maine researching risk of parasite transmission from wildlife to small ruminants and risk reduction methods, including pastured poultry. Her social science work looks at farmer and veterinarian knowledge, attitude, and practice for small ruminant health management and the challenges they encounter with this topic. Rachel is also involved with the University’s One Health and the Environment NRT program. She is plans to include a One Health framework into her programming to address human-animal-environmental health challenges in Maine’s agricultural community. On her farm, Rachel has Finn sheep, laying chickens, seasonal broilers, pigeons, horses, and various fruits.

What is Maine Farmcast?

The Maine Farmcast features weekly conversations with experts from across the country sharing insights and advice for both new and seasoned farmers running operations of any size. Hosted by three livestock specialists from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the show brings you world-class expertise paired with practical advice about how to apply cutting-edge research to improve the efficiency and sustainability of your farming operation.

Colt Knight: 00:28

Welcome to the Maine Farmcast. I am your host, Dr. Colt Knight, associate extension professor and state of livestock specialist. I am joined by my fellow co-host.

Glenda Pereira: 00:40

Glenda Pereira. Colt, listeners told us that they prefer to listen to episodes where we both chat away. Isn't that interesting?

Colt Knight: 00:49

Well, that was your dad, so I think that has a little bit to do with that.

Glenda Pereira: 00:53

Shout out to my stepdad, Ryan Lapre, because he'll be listening to this episode.

Colt Knight: 00:58

But today, we have some really special guests from AgrAbility. Bella and Brie, would you like to introduce yourselves?

Bella Russo: 01:07

Sure. I'll go first. My name is Bella Russo and I currently direct the Maine AgrAbility program. I have been farming in New England for about 9 years now, both crops and livestock. My background's in agriculture and biology, with a focus in plant pathology, so I'm on the extension side.

Bella Russo: 01:25

I bring some of the ag knowledge and expertise to our team right now, and I'm also a certified yoga instructor.

Glenda Pereira: 01:32

And folks might find you in the Farmington area, but you have statewide responsibilities. Right?

Bella Russo: 01:37

That's right. Yep. The program's statewide. I go everywhere, but my office location's in Farmington.

Brie Weisman: 01:43

Alright. And my name is Brie Weissman. I've been working with AgrAbility as a contract worker since 2017 and I have a background as an occupational therapist and I also am a small farmer raising registered Icelandic sheep and in our high hoop houses, we grow winter greens.

Colt Knight: 02:11

Alright. Thanks, Brie and Bella. Let's start off with what is AgrAbility, where it came from, what it does, and who it serves.

Bella Russo: 02:23

I will give the background. So AgrAbility is a USDA funded program that's available in 21 states, including Maine right now. And each state works to serve farmers. And in Maine, we include loggers and fishermen, forest workers, and aquaculturalists in our group that we serve, that have any sort of physical or cognitive barrier that's preventing them from working productively and safely on their operations. So we also serve, not only owner operators of farms, but farm family members, farm crew members, so pretty much anyone who's on farm and farm adjacent.

Bella Russo: 03:00

And our work is to help find reasonable solutions for people to continue working safely and productively. So we're typically working with infrastructure, tools, and techniques to help people continue doing the work that they want to do.

Brie Weisman: 03:14

I'll just add that it's a USDA funded program, and it's a competitive program. And we've had it since, I believe, 2006. And every 4 years, we re-apply and somehow we keep doing it right because they keep giving it to us. So we have 2 more years on this grant, and we're very hopeful that, you know, we'll be able to serve the folks of Maine again.

Colt Knight: 03:38

So let's have an example. Let's say you're a disabled veteran with back issues. What is AgrAbility able to to help those folks with?

Bella Russo: 03:49

We can kinda go through a typical client case here. So we'd start by doing an intake and just figuring out what this farmer is actually doing, what their goals are on farm, and, you know, in sort of the context of their injury or disability. And then most likely, we would schedule an on-site farm visit with them. And so typically, we team up to do this to pair our expertise. So likely, it would be myself and one of our contractors, and we would go and have first what we call our kitchen table conversation to identify what we're what our goals are collectively as a group, what this client is looking to really get out of AgrAbility.

Bella Russo: 04:30

Sometimes the goals are really simple and straightforward, like someone wants to just continue farming for another 10 years. How do we help them do that? Or how do we help find them resources that will help them do that? And then when we're on-site, we're looking at what infrastructure already exists on the farm, what tools and equipment they already have, what what this person is typically already doing. And so part of part of what we're looking for on our visits too is to hear from farm family members and other people that are involved directly on farm to help kinda provide a little bit more of that external context as to, you know, disability or injury is personal, but it also does impact the people around that person that they're working with or living with, so that's really helpful when we go on-site to have more than just the individual client that we're directly serving there.

Bella Russo: 05:20

And so first, we kind of look at what exists already there for tools and equipment and what we can already modify and use that's available. And then we have our OT expertise that might come in and look at more physically what's what's challenging, what's a limitation. And then following that visit, we'll prepare a write up assessment sort of of what we covered, what we might suggest for resources, financial, and otherwise, suggestions on tools and techniques that a farmer client might want to consider and kind of lay out the buffet of resources, I call it. And it's really up to them to decide what feels best from what we've suggested and what we've kind of compiled for resources and then let them lead the process from there. So I think I answered your question.

Brie Weisman: 06:09

I'll chime in a little bit. One of the things that it it costs the farmer nothing, but when we say farmer or logger or fisherman, they do need to be productive farming. So if you're just subsistence farming then we don't work with just, you know, somebody in the backyard, we have, you can access our resources, but we're there to help somebody who is trying to continue in one of those professions and if they've had an illness, accident, injury or chronic condition. We also, you know, can't just give you a tractor. We don't have money to fund equipment, but we're pretty resourceful, so we kind of know how and where to look.

Brie Weisman: 06:52

So we often team up with voc rehab. And one of our partners, if you're an AgrAbility program, you have a land grant university. So University of Maine is our land grant and there's also a nonprofit partner and ours is Alpha One. So that's independent living skills folks there and we we have some folks on the board and some folks that work with us directly. So so we will come out and anywhere in the state of Maine, we will find you, and we will come out for a site visit and support you and and, you know, and hopefully make a difference so that you can keep on.

Colt Knight: 07:30

And we talked about some of the resources, but what are those resources? I mean, can you give some examples?

Bella Russo: 07:36

Sure. I'll, start with one of the big ones Brie already mentioned, vocational rehabilitation. We call it voc rehab or VR for short. VR is a state resource that provides funding and other assistance to anybody who's experiencing an employment barrier, so that is certainly something that's affecting our AgrAbility clients, barriers that are physical and cognitive. They also help people that have education and other barriers to employment, but we really look to VR to help support our clients in cases where a piece of equipment or a new tool or something to that extent would really dramatically improve their ability to continue farming or working productively.

Bella Russo: 08:14

And so they're one of our closest resource partners, and they will kind of take a client in after they've applied and really do a full kind of deep assessment, including a much more in-depth, what they call an AT assessment, an assistive technology assessment, to determine the level of of need physically. They'll go through the goals pretty in-depth with this individual and then determine how much funding or how much resource wise they could provide to a client. And they have a pretty specific and strict set of rules. They're really looking at a picture of the present. You know, what is this person currently doing and how might we offer them support to keep doing what they're currently doing?

Bella Russo: 08:58

So they have a they have a series of counselors that work in every county in the state to kind of help people that are in that general area. So each of our clients might be paired up with a different counselor, and so it's our job to kind of refer them there and, to some degree, see them through the process. Yeah. They they kinda need AgrAbility for that because they don't necessarily understand farming. It's a

Brie Weisman: 09:24

a way of life and so is fishing and logging. So there's some relying on what we do for some expertise in that. And as I would mention, Maine site as another resource and I'm not sure if you're familiar with that. That's every state has a technology program and Maine CITE is ours and they have equipment there that you can kind of try out to determine if it's gonna work for you because Let's face it, the average age of farmers, especially in Maine is about 57. So just hearing loss, arthritis, things that you know everybody has, but it can get really compromised and safety can get compromised on the farm.

Brie Weisman: 10:07

And so you can get paired up with somebody at Maine CITE who can, you know, offer you something to "try before you buy" kind of thing. So it's a great resource.

Glenda Pereira: 10:17

Yeah. And, so you you mentioned something. You you your process is that you first, you know, do an intake, but, some folks might be hesitant to reach out to your team. What are, some things that you can provide our listeners with? Because I'm sure you've worked with a a lot of clients, and and I don't know what that profile looks like.

Glenda Pereira: 10:43

But some are at a point where, you know, maybe it is an aggravated injury already, but some are at a point where they're still in the process where some preventative measures might benefit them. I always like to to just say, how can folks, like, benefit from you, and and what is if if you kind of understand my question, what what would what is some of the barrier and challenges, and how do you guys minimize those for them?

Bella Russo: 11:14

I really like this question, Glenda. I think I understand what you're asking where there are really distinct cultural differences between farming and fishing and logging. They share a lot of similarities, but asking for help is challenging. Having vulnerable conversations about health and things that are really deeply tied to identity and sometimes sense of worth are really hard to talk about, especially with people that you don't know well. So sometimes using other extension resources like folks that have a really close and long standing relationship with a farm or a farmer, different folks in the industry like for instance, even a seed salesperson or a chemical salesperson that has just known and worked with farms for a long time might have a closer relationship and might be more trusted by a farmer.

Bella Russo: 12:01

Like, I've noticed in the past year or so, like, you look like you're hurting a little bit. You know, is this something that's impacting your ability? Have you heard of AgrAbility? This might be a really positive thing for you to consider working with on your farm. I think there was another part to that question I'm forgetting.

Bella Russo: 12:18

No. That was good. I think I got what you were saying there.

Brie Weisman: 12:20

Well, I mean, I guess I'm I was thinking about, if say the last part of your question again.

Glenda Pereira: 12:29

I was talking about, you know, I I think you guys minimize the barriers and challenges

Brie Weisman: 12:34

Yeah.

Glenda Pereira: 12:34

Of folks that might wanna reach out to you but are not ready.

Brie Weisman: 12:38

Why don't you tell them about our website, Bella?

Bella Russo: 12:41

I would love to. I'm so glad you asked. Yes. Our our website is actually full of resources and you just reminded me that we actually have a multi page document on our website that anyone can access with all of the different resources and other service providers that we work with. So I think they're even color coded, like we've got financial service providers in, like, black, and green would be more like farm service providers on things like succession and land access and all of that sort of stuff.

Bella Russo: 13:08

So we've got them all outlined. We talk about voc rehab because it's one of the ones that we refer almost every one of our clients to. But the website is an amazing resource. It's full of awesome materials, including many, many articles written by our contractors, including Brie. There's also resources to success stories from clients that have gone through the AgrAbility program in the past that have wanted to share pieces of their experience and how working with AgrAbility has positively impacted their ability to continue farming.

Bella Russo: 13:40

We've also got, links to our social media. You can also submit an inquiry to our program through the website. So if that's the easiest way to do it or if it's the most comfortable way, we have a form on the website where you can submit an inquiry and that'll get sent directly to the Maine AgrAbility inbox, and then we can take it from there. There's also links to our posters and stickers. So we have developed 2 yoga posters, which include the yoga for farmers and then the yoga for fishermen.

Bella Russo: 14:08

And so they both have, I think it's 8 different stretches or shapes to try if you're, you know, in those industries and you need to take a break or have that as a guide for a warm up practice or just a midday stretch of some sort. It's just to remind folks that, you know, it's good to take breaks. It's important to move your body in different ways, excuse me, especially if you're in static or doing repetitive motion positions a lot, which is really common.

Brie Weisman: 14:35

Yeah. I mean, we developed those posters because my husband was on a tractor for 7 hours and he's an intelligent man who knows yoga and he was not very functional for 3 days after that, so we kinda lost some productivity on the farm. So the goal was to fit in in little mini bursts, yoga Colt.

Colt Knight: 14:59

I'm shuffling my feet around, and I almost ripped the microphone out

Brie Weisman: 15:03

of her hand eye with the cord. So so they're designed like, you can do them on the tractor. You do not we're not having you bring out like a yoga mat. You're not in Lycra. Just do some of the poses that are really helpful there so that you don't lose productivity.

Brie Weisman: 15:17

So and they can request. You can request a poster from us and what's our what's our address?

Glenda Pereira: 15:25

Our address? The website?

Bella Russo: 15:27

Oh, I'm sorry. The the web address.

Glenda Pereira: 15:29

And we'll we'll link it to the show notes, but Yeah. It's just

Bella Russo: 15:33

I think it's [e-mail]. Yeah. That's it.

Bella Russo: 15:38

I just Google search it so much.

Brie Weisman: 15:41

But we do have articles also. You can find us often in the Commercial Fisheries News, whether it's me or we have, Toni Small who's another contractor who, owns Ice House Oysters. She often writes articles. We are in the Logger's Voice, which is with the professional logging contractors and soon to be in a farming journal. We're excited about that.

Bella Russo: 16:09

To be continued on that. Okay. Upcoming.

Colt Knight: 16:12

As a farmer myself, I know how hard headed we can be and stubborn when it comes to asking for help or doing help and kinda share one of my stories is I hurt my neck and herniated a disc. And I went through about 2 years of just hell dealing with that with no resolution, and then finally was able to find a physical therapist that got me on the right rehabilitation path and with the stretches and, machines and inversion table and all kinds of things that I can remember I would go to a conference and I would fly. And being on a plane going there and then coming back within a week, I would just be out of commission for at least 3 weeks while my neck healed and and everything back. And and since I found that help, I now can fly without any kind of real pain, and and I'm way more productive on the farm. So I think for the for the people that are experiencing some some serious issues, you know, reach out.

Colt Knight: 17:17

We're here to help. It's those resources aren't there just for anybody. They're there for you.

Brie Weisman: 17:24

That's right. And you know what? If you don't like what we said, you don't have to do any of it. That's the great, it's education and information for you to use as you wish. If you want more support, we're there for you.

Brie Weisman: 17:37

If you want us to back off, we're happy to do that as well. So yeah.

Bella Russo: 17:42

I think that might be nice to talk about though, actually from you, Brie, a little bit more on the education side of the work that we do.

Brie Weisman: 17:49

Well, we're, very excited because, we both have been accepted. So AgrAbility, the national program, has a conference annually and it will be in New Mexico. We're very excited in March. So, we do presentations there and they accepted a presentation on ergonomics. We're doing a lot of ergonomics in all of the areas, logging, farming, and fishing.

Brie Weisman: 18:17

And Bella, you are doing a couple, aren't you?

Bella Russo: 18:21

Yes, I am. So I will be collaborating with Brie. I'll also be collaborating with one of our other contractors, Toni Small, who was mentioned. And she's doing a presentation on cultural competency with fishing and aquaculture. So talking about how in 2014 that program was developed and how we have grown Maine AgrAbility to serve those group of working oceanfront, waterfront workers in Maine, and how understanding the culture is part of that, and how we how we work and kind of consider that as we're serving our working waterfront clients.

Bella Russo: 18:56

And then my presentation that will be a solo presentation is sort of on, jumping into the role as the new director and sort of our Maine's team dynamics. Maine has a pretty lean team in comparison to some other AgrAbility states and how we use our resources wisely and best to support people that are farming, fishing, and logging all over Maine. And so I'm planning to include some pieces of, you know, geographically, how we best serve and do our marketing and networking all over the state, how we are doing our best to try to serve clients all over the state and not just specific to certain portions or where we're physically located. So it'll be sort of, conclusive of, like, for me, my 1st year-ish on the job. And Bella and I

Brie Weisman: 19:40

have both I mean, we did some work at Merrymeeting Bay.

Bella Russo: 19:44

Yeah. It was the, Merrymeeting Food Council, which was down in, I think Belfast area or Bowdoinham area, excuse me. So we've done a few different, educational workshops.

Brie Weisman: 19:56

And that one was with new farmers, so we were a lot of preventative, like things that you can do, stretches that you can do, things to look out for so that you don't get into bad habits in the first place because you know, it's it's definitely more difficult with our older population of farmers. We developed a a pain tool identifier for farmers. So traditional pain tools are on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst pain ever. What are you now? Which is like a very difficult question for most people to answer and it's not fun for a healthcare professional to ask.

Brie Weisman: 20:32

So we tried a different thing specifically for farmers that would give us more of a, you know, traffic light system where green's go and everything is good and then yellow's like slow down. You need to like really look at how you're feeling, like is your neck to a point like that you need to change what you're doing? And then red, I can't really move my neck. Don't call us. You need to go.

Brie Weisman: 20:54

But if you're in the yellow for that zone, you know, definitely call us and we'll come out. But so that's just one of the resources we have on there and it's just trying to make a discussion with farmers that are a little set in their ways a little bit easier for the farmer and for staff as well.

Bella Russo: 21:13

And to sort of just hinge on to that and also maybe answer your earlier question, Glenda, like, how are we actually talking to farmers and getting them to be honest and open up a little bit about their experiences and about their pain is, like, I'm just thinking back to the Ag Trades Show and some other trade events that we've done with targeted groups throughout the year, and we sometimes bring, like, interactive models or we have what we call a pain man who is just kind of a life size figure that just says, where is your pain? And it's, voluntary. Anyone can go up and write down, you know, like, oh, I have wrist pain or I have carpal tunnel or, I have severe headaches or a traumatic brain injury. And so it's cool for us to see in some ways after an event like that, you know, like, where collectively on the body or, like, what types of pain or issues do people voluntarily submit. And sometimes it's kind of the gateway conversation opener to somebody to kinda come on in and feel like they're seen a little bit at one of those events and we can start talking.

Brie Weisman: 22:14

Yeah. We did, we had a research, doctoral OT student, James Wall, study the pain tool and and 70 people at the Ag Trades Show, this was back in 2023, signed up to help participate in it. We ended up with about 30 participants in the end, but so small number, but not not a bad start for a pilot study. And we also go to the Fishermen's Forum.

Brie Weisman: 22:38

I mean, you know, if somebody says, gosh. I would love you guys to present on a topic and it makes sense to us. I mean, we have done that and we will go out and do that. So, you know, call Bella up and she'll wrangle us in for something.

Bella Russo: 22:53

Yeah. That's that's what happened this week up in Presque Isle. There was the crop planning conference for potato growers and there were some there, were quite a few actually, of harvest related injuries with equipment this year, and so an AgrAbility talk felt really appropriate for that meeting, and so up I went. Yeah.

Glenda Pereira: 23:12

And I think it's just awareness. I was thinking about this the other day. You know, physical and mental health is so crucial because we we talk about sustainability of a business, of a farming, logging, or fishing business. And as we talked in a previous episode about farm safety, with our other colleagues here at UMaine Extension, if you cannot operate or do whatever tasks you need to do every day in your business, that's, you you know, gonna hinder your business from being profitable and from being sustainable overall. So I love that you have an awesome presence here, and I encourage people listening if you have an event, to reach out to to this team here, because the more we create awareness about this, the more we can potentially continue to improve our practices.

Glenda Pereira: 24:09

Because the preventative is really how we can, get at the root of some of these issues. Right? There's a lot of injuries that happen. Yes. But there's so much prevention we can do.

Glenda Pereira: 24:20

You mentioned your husband has now implemented a yoga stretch, maybe sitting in the tractor even. And so, you know, the stop and take a break, I think has continued like, I see people doing it in the farming community now, and I just want that to continue because it just means that we can keep more folks safe and keep more folks farming, which is the goal. Right?

Bella Russo: 24:48

It is the goal. And, actually, AgrAbility, the word comes from the conjunction of agriculture and sustainability pressed together, and that's the whole idea. Yep. To keep people doing what they wanna be doing, what they're good at, what they like to do.

Colt Knight: 25:01

Mhmm. I would really like to hear a success story from the program.

Bella Russo: 25:10

Alright. I mean Well, we've worked with so many people. I'm just trying to think of a real ripe example. But you have more

Brie Weisman: 25:18

I know.

Bella Russo: 25:18

In your

Brie Weisman: 25:19

Yeah.

Bella Russo: 25:19

In your podcast.

Colt Knight: 25:20

And I had this conversation earlier. Glenda, when she hosts the podcast, she prepares her guests with questions, And then I just have them come straight in and set in front of the microphone. And before they even get acclimated

Brie Weisman: 25:33

I got one. I got one. Okay. Here we go. Here we go.

Brie Weisman: 25:35

And you can We need

Glenda Pereira: 25:37

to play the, like, intermediate type, like, noise that's like

Brie Weisman: 25:43

One of our clients, a fisherman, a lobsterman, he actually had a spinal cord injury from a hunting accident but could still drive his boat and everything. His need was actually he at that time, he was unable to drive himself to his boat. And so our goal was, let's see, Alpha One's independent living specialist, Ketra, helped with getting the car set up for him to be able to independently drive himself to the dock and then he has a crane that lifts his wheelchair right onto the boat. I mean, that's pretty cool and he's, you know, out there still doing his, you know, lobstering. And then thinking about somebody else, we've had, a farmer and she didn't own the farm, but she managed the farm off on Vinalhaven and she had MS and it was pretty progressive.

Brie Weisman: 26:44

So, had, you know, kind of crutch walking canes to get around. And so we had a lot of suggestions. She was working really hard. She was an amazing worker, but you know, the progression of the disease means we need to look ahead and save some of her energy. So something as simple as a side by side or using a golf cart to get around, widening the lanes of her hoop house, which was a hardship.

Brie Weisman: 27:10

Right? Because if you widen the lanes, you're losing. Right? You're gonna lose some. And it had to be you had to be okay with that.

Brie Weisman: 27:17

Is your goal to continue farming yourself? And so it was you know, we can push gently into the direction that we think would be most beneficial, and she can make her decision up. But she also became, a voc rehab client. So that really helped so that then, Kelly Spencer was able to go out and do an assistive technology assessment which, you know, then that's under voc rehab so they can kind of try to figure out what makes sense in terms of the equipment can they help pay for because, you know, she's got a working farm, there are employees there. So then that's a neat situation where you see you don't actually have to own the farm.

Brie Weisman: 28:01

You don't have to own it, could be a stern man who has some issues. So, I have more, but

Bella Russo: 28:09

Yeah. I think that was a great example. A lot of our client cases, especially when they start working with vocational rehabilitation, take quite a long time, and everybody's needs are different. And especially when we're talking about things like equipment, infrastructure, takes a long time to make those changes. And like we said before, you know, we're willing to stay with and to support clients for as long as they want us there and need us there, but also we're willing to kind of step away if they're ready to kinda take this on or they feel like they're they've gotten what they're looking for with AgrAbility.

Bella Russo: 28:46

So I'd say right now, I think our current client load is somewhere in between 15-20 clients that all need very different things and are at very different stages in the process. But we do get feedback through the process where we've heard great things. I just heard from a farmer or, an aquaculturist the other day that we're currently working with that received their write up and their letter from me, which is about 4 pages long full of, you know, summary and resources and next steps, you know, potential next steps. And he just said, I'm so amazed. You already make me feel like we are making progress.

Bella Russo: 29:22

I feel heard, and I feel ready to keep going. And that was just awesome to hear even though, you know, we don't have anything physical to show. Sometimes it's hard to measure our success because not everything is super qualitative in this program. A lot of it is, or it's not quantitative. I'm sorry.

Bella Russo: 29:40

It's more qualitative. It's about the feedback. It's about how somebody personally measures their ability to do things, and that's different for everybody. Everyone's hardships are a little bit different. So being able to keep the line of communication open and to hear that those sort of things from our farmers, or you've made even just this step of the process easier.

Bella Russo: 29:57

Like, your support made a difference is great and really helpful, and I would count that as as a small success or part of a larger success story.

Glenda Pereira: 30:05

Yeah. I certainly agree. And where can folks find you in the upcoming months? So I'm guessing you're gonna be at the trades Show.

Brie Weisman: 30:11

Mhmm. Oh, we're gonna have an amazing trade show. We are. We are known for our trade shows. We put on the displays, man.

Bella Russo: 30:18

We do, and there's also a panel that I will be on, Tuesday afternoon at the trade show. I think it was actually just kind of firmed up today on farming sustainably, and so like we talked about, I'll give a little bit of information on how AgrAbility can help farmers plan sustainability into their overall farm plan. And, yeah, and Bre, like she said, we're known for our very boisterous and engaging displays at the

Brie Weisman: 30:44

love us.

Bella Russo: 30:45

Yes. At the Ag Trades Show. Next week, actually, we'll be down in York County at the Soil Health Workshop that's being hosted by, Carrick Gambell.

Glenda Pereira: 30:56

So you Bella, you were saying that you're gonna be at an event in late March?

Bella Russo: 31:01

End of February or early March is the Maine Fishermen's Forum, which is a multi day event. Last year, Brie and Toni did a presentation on the last day. This year, we'll be back. We there. Sometimes we do presentations.

Bella Russo: 31:15

Actually, Toni will be on a panel this year talking about culture in fishing and aquaculture. So that's a big event where all the all of our good fishing contacts and other service providers are there. So that's just a few of the big ones that are coming

Brie Weisman: 31:27

up for us. What are

Bella Russo: 31:28

we doing tonight? Oh, good question, Brie. So glad you asked. Tonight is the Certified Logging Professional's annual logging banquet. So Brie and I will be there tabling and sharing information with loggers, and then we also have the opportunity to give a short presentation and overview of our services to loggers.

Brie Weisman: 31:46

And we'll be doing, the professional logging contractor safety trainings. So that will be the slips, trips, and falls, and soft tissue injury. So that'll be all over the state and When does it start? Boy, it starts like the day before we're back from New Mexico.

Bella Russo: 32:07

Which would be the end of March.

Brie Weisman: 32:08

Yeah. And I'll go through about May and then then you run into Fiber Frolic and yeah. We're out there. We're out there. You can find us.

Glenda Pereira: 32:18

Yes. And we look forward to finding you. Are there any last things you want to share with our listeners before we wrap up our conversation today?

Bella Russo: 32:25

One thing I don't know if we mentioned, our program is completely free. So because it's USDA funded, we can't provide funding directly to our clients. We can't purchase a piece of equipment or a tool for them. But any amount of our time, any phone calls, on-site visits, any time we help assist with anything is totally free to the farmer.

Glenda Pereira: 32:46

Awesome.

Brie Weisman: 32:46

Or a logger or a fisherman. And I think what you said, Colt, about like being a little bit stubborn and trying like ignoring things, you know, you can do that for so long, but it will catch up to you and it gets worse as we get older. So addressing the problems sooner. Glenda, like you said, you know, if they fit a little bit of stretch time in, you're actually gonna be more productive. Research has shown it.

Brie Weisman: 33:10

So you're not taking anything away. You're probably gonna be able to be more productive.

Glenda Pereira: 33:15

Thank you for that, Bree.

Colt Knight: 33:17

Well, Bella, Brie, it was great to have you with us on the Maine Farmcast. Glenda, it's always fun to have you with us here in the studio.

Glenda Pereira: 33:26

Yes.

Colt Knight: 33:27

If you have questions, comments, concerns, or suggested episodes, Glenda, tell them where they can reach us.

Glenda Pereira: 33:35

I think you made me say this quote because I always forget. But the email where you can reach us at is [e-mail].

Colt Knight: 33:47

Like a professional. That was great.

Brie Weisman: 33:53

Awesome. No problem.

Colt Knight: 33:54

We appreciate you guys coming.

Bella Russo: 33:55

Thank you so much for having us.

Brie Weisman: 33:57

You gotta let us get a picture and show

Bella Russo: 34:02

Bella's a capper. She's got this. Right. And I'll try

Glenda Pereira: 34:07

to reel this in. Colt has to leave at around 3:50. Okay. So we have roughly 40 ish minutes.

Colt Knight: 34:14

That's funny.

Glenda Pereira: 34:14

It's sad. I usually do a good job at saying, like, alright. So again, what are what are, like, 3 takeaways for our listeners, that they can take away from I say that better, but, and once you hear me say that, that's my, like

Colt Knight: 34:33

Shut up. Say goodbye.