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News Releases
Farmers and Arthritis Project To Be Highlighted at Show
Columbia, Mo. (Jan. 5, 2000) - One of Missouri's largest farm shows will showcase the Missouri AgrAbility Project (MAP) plus the Farmers and Arthritis Project.
For a three-day event from Feb. 26-28, 2000, the Western Farm Show invited both projects to present their newly developed displays of "Assistive Technology and Adapted Devices for Easy Gardening" as well as assistive technology and adapted devices for farmers with arthritis.
"What a perfect place and opportunity to get the information out to the farmer," said Karen Funkenbusch, coordinator of the two projects.
The event draws farmers from eight different states and includes more than 600 exhibitors.
"You have to be invited to showcase at the Western Farm Show," Funkenbusch said. "So this is a big deal for the two projects."
The event will be held at the Royal Complex in Kansas City, Mo., and is billed as "the Midwest's largest indoor agricultural equipment show." The event has been a tradition since 1962.
The three-day event is sponsored by the Western Association, a dealer trade association founded by a group of hardware and farm implement dealers.
The Missouri AgrAbility Project's display will include commercial assistive devices and adapted garden tools as well as photos and accessible gardening techniques and suggestions.
Funkenbusch points out that previous AgrAbility displays on adaptive gardening have been a hit at other shows and events.
After all, she notes, many farmers are gardeners. This display will show how to continue gardening even if disabled as well as offer tips on how to garden with less strain.
The other display, an exhibit by the Farmers and Arthritis Project, will feature a variety of farming and arthritis-related information plus photos. For the first time, the exhibit also will include tools and devices that have been especially made for farmers with arthritis. The items were manufactured by Brad Marsh, an assistive technology coordinator for the project.
MAP is a federally funded program, based at the University of Missouri-Columbia's Agricultural Engineering Department. MAP's purpose is to provide information and training to rural engineers, health care professionals, rehabilitation therapists and vocational counselors so they can help farmers keep on farming.
The Farmers and Arthritis Project is a research project of the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC).
Also headquartered at MU, MARRTC is a federally funded program that conducts research and teaches health care professionals how to prevent and manage arthritis-related disability.
The purpose of the Farmers and Arthritis Project is to bring arthritis information and services to farmers, ranchers and persons living and working in rural communities - who usually do not have access to these resources.
The Farmers and Arthritis Project provides services such as on-site farm assessments, on-site technical assistance and training on modified farm equipment, operations, buildings and home environment.
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