Granddaughter raises money to help farmers with disabilities

Students at Scott Middle School in Lincoln were asked to choose a problem in our world, research it and find out what can they can do to help. Eric Nelson, humanities teacher, said our "Make a Difference Project" started simply as a way to make research more enjoyable and meaningful for the sixth-grade students. He encouraged students to choose topics that are near and dear to their hearts, and they typically pick things such as cancer, poverty and abuse.

Scott sixth graders have been doing this social action project since the 2011-2012 school year. Students then create display booths and invite the community to the "Make A Difference Fair," where students share what they have learned and raise funds for these charities. The school has raised more than $70,000 in the last ten years.

Callia Thompson, granddaughter of Bob, and Brenda Theer of Lawrence, chose AgrAbility as her charity for the MAD project. This group is important to her since they were able to help her grandfather when he had his farming accident in 2016. The vision statement of AgrAbility is to enhance the quality of life for farmers, ranchers and other agricultural workers with disabilities so they, their families, and their communities continue to succeed in rural America.

Callia's mother, Bethany Thompson, said, "We are excited about this project Callia is working on. She chose AgrAbility because she was inspired by the help they gave my dad, Bob Theer, following his accident. When insurance could not help, they came to Lawrence to see what he would need to keep him farming and offered assistance. This was a big deal to our family, as they have been to other families."

Callia has written a paper on farming accidents and a letter to radio station 96.9 to help get some media attention for the MAD fair at the end of April. She has also written letters to personally invite people to the fair and made posters for her presentation for that night. Each student will be raising money for their individual charities. If you would like to donate visit https://givebutter.com/NE_AgrAbility

Callia's research paper

Imagine owning a farm. Imagine relying on the animals and crops you grow to get money for your family. Now imagine all of the things you would need to do to keep your farm running. All of the risks you have to take. All of the dangers that go into farming. Imagine knowing that if you

got hurt, you wouldn't have the money to pay for hospitalization or doctor visits because all of the money that you earn goes into buying food for animals, repairing machines, buying animals, and many, many more things. Speaking from personal experience, I know firsthand that farming injuries are dangerous, life-changing occurrences. My grandfather lost his hand in a farming accident and it has changed everyone in my family's lives.

Everyone knows what an injury is. They know what causes them, why they happen and what things are considered injuries. But do they know what farm injuries are? Do they know what causes them, why they happen, and when certain injuries are classified as "farm injuries"? A farm injury is any injury that happens on the farm or while doing farming activities. There are many different kinds of injuries and they are all very dangerous for their own reasons. The leading cause of death is tractor turnovers. This happens when someone is going too fast or is carrying too much on a tractor. This could include other machines as well. Machines cause 44 percent of all farming injuries. This could happen because there are missing labels or warnings on the machine, the equipment is "defective," or not working the way it's supposed to, or because the farmer hasn't received proper training. Another common type of farm accidents are falls. They can result in brain injuries, broken bones, or other more severe injuries. Some other common farm injuries include exposure to pesticides that can cause skin rashes, vomiting, breathing problems, and something called, "farmer's lung." Similarly suffocation is a big problem in the farming industry. Suffocation happens because farmers are constantly working around full bins of wheat, grain, and soybeans. These are especially dangerous because if a grain bin gets clogged, most farmers feel that they need to climb into them to get them unstuck. The way the corn, or grain or soybeans lay creates air pockets. Farmers can actually drown if they get stuck in one of the air pockets. Farmers never just "take the day off." The work in any weather which causes heat stress. This can lead to dehydration, dizziness, heat stroke and heart problems. Some of these can lead to requiring immediate hospitalization. Limbs can get stuck and crushed in agricultural machinery really easily. They could get stuck in chain, gear, and pulley systems. The last farm injury is caused by animals. They aren't as frequent, but they are more likely to result in traumatic brain injuries than any other farm injuries.

Now you know what farm injuries are, but why do they happen? Why are they so problematic? There are four main reasons farm accidents happen. The first one is inexperience. This happens because farmers might think that they don't have time to learn every detail about every single thing on their farm. A way to prevent getting injured because of this particular accident, is doing some research to know how an animal will respond to different things and knowing the limitations of a machine.

Another main reason farmers get hurt is because they're going too fast. This can include many things. It could include going too fast on the road. No matter what vehicle you're driving, you should never go too fast. Even though tractors can't go as fast as cars, trucks, or semis, they are more likely to tip over and like I said earlier, tractor turnovers are the leading cause of death in the farming industry. It could also include trying to rush something that takes time, like herding cows onto a trailer to move them. If you try to hurry a process like that, you could get seriously injured.

Some ways to prevent accidents from going too fast are, slow down when you're not fully sure what you're doing and take your time. It's better to get home an hour later than to not come home at all.

Another big cause of injuries is improper maintenance. This could include not changing the oil on a machine, not using tools for their intended use, or using one tool for many different things. Ways to prevent this is making sure all of your tools are sharp,

and making sure you're using the right tools to fix things.

The last main reason farmers get injured on a farm is because of distractions. Don't try to multitask because one of the things you are doing may distract you from the other task and if either project you are trying to combine include animals, machines, or screens of any kind, then one of the projects can wait. It isn't worth getting hurt over something you can help.

Ways to prevent this particular injury are, pay attention to what you're doing, and don't get on a screen unless you aren't doing anything else that may distract you.

Farming is also a dangerous profession because farmers work with large animals, chemicals and heavy machinery. Research has shown that farmers don't change their daily schedules or work patterns as they grow older. They don't consider themselves "less able." Research has also shown that people that grow up in a farming environment grow up blind to risks on the farm. Some of it may be passed down from their parents. Danger is seen as something that is "central to farming."

Farming injuries are clearly a serious problem in our world, so what are people doing to help prevent them? Are they doing anything to help farmers that have been injured? AgrAbility is an amazing program that helps farmers that have been victims of farm injuries. AgrAbility's mission statement is "To 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." AgrAbility helps with many things from helping to pay for prosthetics that cost as much as, or more than a car, to visiting farms and seeing if there is anything they can do to make farmers' lives easier.

Another great organization that helps farmers that have experienced a major injury, illness, or a natural disaster, is Farm Rescue. The mission of Farm Rescue is, "To help family farms and ranches bridge crises so they have an opportunity to continue viable operations." They provide haying, harvesting, planting, and livestock feeding assistance to farm and ranch families. They have helped more than 800 farm families since they opened in 2005.

One more amazing organization that helps farmers is Nebraska VR. Their mission is to, "Help people with disabilities prepare for, obtain, and maintain employment while helping businesses recruit, train, and retain employees with disabilities." They provide opportunities for people with disabilities. The "VR" in their name stands for Vocational Rehabilitation which means that they will help anyone with a disability rehabilitate and be able to continue their current-previous job.

Imagine being a farmer and not needing to worry about money. Not needing to worry about whether you will have enough money to go to the doctor this month. Not needing to worry about if you are going to choose to repair something on your farm that you really need, or going to the hospital when you get severely injured. AgrAbility helped my grandfather get his prosthetic and visited his farm to see if there was anything they could do to make his life easier. They also helped him get a side-by-side UTV as they are much easier to drive than the 4-Wheeler ATV he was using before. AgrAbility tried to make it so he could complete his normal schedule with as little change as possible. Nebraska VR visited the school he works at to see if there was anything they could do to help make his life easier there.

Even if no one in your family is a farmer, this still affects you. If none of the farmers have enough money to go to the doctor when they get hurt and they can't grow as many crops or animals, then there won't be enough food for us. Most of our food comes from farmers. Even things that we think can't have come from a farm, can probably be traced back to having spent some time on a farm, being cared for by a farmer.

I hope this has left you with some insight on how dangerous farmers' lives can be and how what they do impacts everyone.

And remember,

Whether you know one or not, farmers sure do a lot!

Globally, 170,000 farmers are fatally injured each year. Nationally, 60-70 farmers are killed each year.

33 percent of the farming population has had a nonfatal injury.

3 percent of farm injuries result in a permanent disability.

Most injuries happen during the harvesting months, June, July and August.

Revised and edited by: Elle Friesen,

Tenlea Fowler and my parents

Bibliography

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Nebraska VR. "Nebraska VR | Who We Are." Nebraska VR, Nebraska VR, http://vr.nebraska.gov/who_we_are/index.html#mission. Accessed 20 March 2022.

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