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Assistive Technology Resources National AgrAbility Workshop (2001 - 2008)
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Promoting Success in Agriculture for People with Disabilities and Their Families
Client Story: Andy and Hilda ByrdWelcome to Whippoorwill HollowBecky Brightwell, project manager of AgrAbility in Georgia, often compares Georgia farmer and AgrAbility client Andy Byrd to Walt Disney. While Andy Byrd is not a famous screen producer and Walt Disney was not an organic farmer with a disability, Andy, like Walt Disney, is a visionary. It was Andy’s vision that helped him create Whippoorwill Hollow Organic Farms all from the seat of his 4x4 wheelchair. Andy and Hilda Byrd grew up only a few miles from each other in a small Georgia town, called Walnut Grove. Andy Byrd’s family owned a grocery store and everything Hilda’s large farming family didn’t grow themselves, they would buy at the Byrd’s grocery. While Hilda was growing up on the farm, Andy was dreaming of having a farm of his own. As a young adult Andy sustained a C5-C6 spinal cord injury from a diving accident at his family’s lake house that left him with quadriplegia. Two years later Andy and Hilda were married and in November of 1997, after many years of running a variety of small non-farm businesses, they finally purchased a farm of their own on seventy-four acres in Covington, Georgia. The Byrds started with a “pick your own” blueberry operation in 1999, and by 2002 they had certified ten acres for organic fruit and vegetable production.
In addition to on-farm sales, they sell produce at three local farmer’s markets, and in 2006 started a community supported agriculture (CSA) enterprise. Today, Whippoorwill Hollow is a USDA certified organic farm that offers a diverse array of things to see and do. The farm produces a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs. The Byrds also raise an assortment of animals—rabbits, sheep, chickens and horses—and crops for food, fertilizer and agri-tourism. The Byrd’s business is not solely about production; they are very committed to education and community service. Educational tours are available year round to illustrate how food is planted and harvested before it arrives on the table. School groups, organic farmers and university students learn about growing crops for food and organic farming practices. Visitors take a seedling plant from the greenhouse to the field to re-plant it, then harvest a crop from the garden and take it to another area of the farm to see how it is processed. Young visitors leave the farm with a Dixie cup containing a seed they take home to plant and nurture. Someday the Byrds would like to have a general store and café on site, so guests can see how a product moves full circle from the ground to their mouths. In addition to group tours, the Byrds host a number of special community events at their farm, including a Native American Powwow, an Earth Day celebration, and “Field of Greens,” a benefit event for the Georgia Organics mentoring program.
Managing such an active and rapidly expanding farm is a lot of work, and the Byrds are continually looking for ways Andy can work more independently on the farm. In 2005, while working with William Carlin, a local county extension agent, the Byrds learned about AgrAbility. In early 2006, Jessica Forbes and Becky Brightwell from AgrAbility in Georgia met with the Byrds and conducted a farm site assessment. Together, the Byrds and AgrAbility staff identified three of Andy’s current work needs/priorities; expanding the business, managing the business end of the operation independently, and increasing hands-on involvement in daily farm work. Becky and Jessica put Andy in touch with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of Georgia. Carol McDonnell, from the SBDC, met with Andy to work on developing a business plan for achieving future growth of the farm. “I think [SBDC] brought us to where we can focus on certain things, kind of bringing the whole circle down into a little bit smaller circle to where you can start prioritizing,” says Andy. AgrAbility in Georgia referred Andy to Tech-Able, Inc., one of Georgia’s five Assistive Technology Resource Centers funded under the Assistive Technology Act. The Tech-Able representative taught Andy how to use Dragon Naturally Speaking, a speech recognition software program that transcribes Andy’s dictated words into written text, enabling him to independently answer e-mails and manage the farm’s bookkeeping. Andy designed semi-raised beds for vegetable crops in his fields and made three-feet wide walkways between every third row so that he could check on the plants from his wheelchair. But Andy wanted to do more. AgrAbility in Georgia arranged for University of Georgia students and community members to build permanent raised flower beds to expand his product base and allow him to actively work in the beds from his wheelchair. AgrAbility staff also fitted electric pruning shears to the StrongArm. The StrongArm, a holding device designed for fishing, allows people with limited use of their hands to transfer holding to the muscles in the forearm, bicep, and shoulder. The height of the flower beds, combined with adaptive gardening tools fitted to the StrongArm device, allow Andy to do just that. “AgrAbility has given us some help to make our vision move forward…to make it more possible. We wouldn’t be where we are now if it weren’t for the connection to AgrAbility,” Andy asserts.
Hilda recently took on the role of peer support coordinator with AgrAbility in Georgia. She and Andy are committed to being positive role models for other farmers/ranchers with disabilities by showing them that the challenges of farming with a disability can be overcome by teamwork, assistive technology, and the desire to succeed. Though Andy and Hilda have already achieved so much at Whippoorwill Hollow Organic Farms, they continue to dream, and in the process they are enriching the lives of so many others. The Byrds have been working with landscape architects and other professionals to ensure that the farm is fully accessible, so that, as Andy says: “People in a wheelchair can sit anywhere and go anywhere they want to, not just in designated places.” Andy and Hilda have big plans for the future of their farm, and their invitation to the public is always “come watch us grow.”
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