Conducting an Agricultural Assessment

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Conducting an Agricultural Assessment

• by Paul Leverenz, AgrAbility of Wisconsin

National AgrAbility Workshop - Omaha,
NE November 13, 2003
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(No Transcript)
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AgrAbility of Wisconsin Staff
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Assessment Preparation

• What are the needs within my organization?
• What are my skills and competencies?
• What are my strengths and weaknesses?
• Who is the end user of my report and/or
  recommendations and what are his/her needs?
• Farmer
• Extension
• Physical Therapist
• Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
• County Social Services
• Private Insurance

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Important Note

• The outcome of the assessment is not equipment.

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Building a Relationship with DVR as an End User

• Network and develop relationships
• Take time to understand their needs
• Dont make recommendations they cant support
• Understand parameters of service
• What governs those parameters?
  
• (ex Rehabilitation Act)
• Know eligibility issues
• Realize program goals
• (employment)

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Assessment Mechanics

• Prepare for the visit
• Research the type of farm operation
• Research disability limitations associated with
  it
• Know your county extension resources
• Tools to take along
• Fish scale
• Tape measure
• Angle finder
• Maintain personal safety
• Follow your gut
• Pay attention to the physical surroundings

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Onsite Farm Visit

• Meet with farmer with disability
• Discuss operation in general barriers in
  specific
• Interview at table or walking around the farm
• Take an I need your help approach
• Listen to how farmer describes his/her operation
  for clues to attitude, mood, finances, etc.
• Have farmer show his/her work routine
• Observe limitations or barriers as farmer works
  at farm
• Ask questions to clarify
• If you have a problem figuring out a solution,
  work backwards through the problem

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Wrapping-up the Visit

• Present ideas to the farmer
• Review what you have covered
• Together prioritize goals and solutions
• Review the plan
• What happens next?
• Who will do what?

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Writing the Recommendation Report

• For every hour on the farm, plan on 10-15 hours
  in research
• Items to include in the report
• Possible solutions
• Actual solutions developed during dialog with
  client, VR and AgrAbility

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Report Format

• Background
• Problems Areas
• Summary
• Cost Section
• Vendor Information
• Vendor Estimates

• Problem Area
• Job Task
• Limitation
• Goal
• Options
• Implement
• Cost
• Vendor and Address
• Phone
• Contact
• Fed Tax ID

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Report Information

• Problem Areas
• Job Task
• Limitations
• Goal
• Caveat Problem areas are prioritized by
  importance and immediacy. All prices are vendor
  estimates and unless noted, all vendors accept
  POs.
• Continued

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Report Information

• Options
• Implement
• Cost
• Vendor
• Phone
• Contact Person
• Federal Tax Identification Number
• Summary
• Cost Section
• Vendor Information
• Required Vendor Estimates

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Case Study
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Jeff Debbie Purvis Purvis Premier
Calves Spencer, WI
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Custom-raising Calves
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1 - Medicating Calves
See page 3 in report

• Job Task
• When a new group of calves is brought in, each
  calf must be given two shots on the first day. In
  the second week, they must be given a second
  shot, and during the third week, they must be
  dehorned and tested for disease. During the fifth
  week, they must be given another shot, and during
  the seventh week, they must be medicated by a
  nose spray. All of these medications are to keep
  herd health procedures in compliance with the
  contract for raising heifers.
• Mr. Farmer must be able to control the calves if
  he is to do these activities. To give the shots,
  he currently crawls into the pen, steps over the
  calfs head, pushes the calf against the back of
  the pen, and gives the shot. He needs more
  control in order to dehorn the calves.

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1 Medicating Calves

• Limitation
• Mr. Farmer must be able to control the calves if
  he is to do these activities. To give the shots,
  he currently crawls into the pen, steps over the
  calfs head, pushes the calf against the back of
  the pen, and gives the shot. He needs more
  control in order to dehorn the calves.

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1 - Medicating Calves

• Goal
• Mr. Farmer will be able to medicate and dehorn
  his calves.
• Options
• Purchase a calf catch, a device that fits over
  the calfs head and can be attached to a fence,
  holding the calf so it cant pull away. Mr.
  Farmer would be able to control the calves for
  medication and release them after he has finished
  performing health care on them.

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Calf Catcher
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2 - Feeding Beef Calves
See page 4 in report

• Job Task
• Currently Mr. Farmer is raising a separate
  group of Holstein steers to 1,000 pounds.
  Mr. Farmer purchased these outright. He has feed
  for these animals delivered in 50-pound bags, one
  ton at a time. Mr. Farmer must lift the 50-pound
  bags, dump the feed into a wheelbarrow, and push
  the wheelbarrow to the calves. Then he must scoop
  the feed from the wheelbarrow to feed the calves.
• Limitation
• Lifting the 50-pound bags, dumping the feed
  into the wheelbarrow, and bending and stooping to
  scoop the feed are difficult and painful for Mr.
  Farmer.

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2 - Feeding Beef Calves

• Goal
• Mr. Farmer will be able to feed his steers
  with less difficulty and pain.
• Options
• Replace the wheelbarrow with a seven-bushel Poly
  cart that has 24" air tires. These would bring
  the feed higher from the ground, reducing the
  bending required to lift and push the
  wheelbarrow as well as to scoop the feed.

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2 Feeding Beef Calves

• Purchase a hydraulic lift cart, which, through
  pumping with his foot, Mr. Farmer could use to
  raise the feedbags to the height of the cart.
  This would make it possible for Mr. Farmer to
  dump the bags without having to lift them.

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Final Stage
Feed Cart
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3 - Feeding Milk Replacer
See page 5 in report

• Job Task
• During the first one to five weeks he has new
  calves, Mr. Farmer must feed them milk replacer.
  Mr. Farmer is currently feeding one and a half
  50-pound bags per feeding, two feedings per day,
  or three bags per day at 150 pounds total. This
  activity requires that 50-pound bags be moved
  from the place where they are stored to the
  mixing room, where they are dumped into the
  liquid mixer. The replacer is then mixed with
  water in the liquid mixer, and a hose is then
  attached to the bottom of the mixer. The milk is
  then transferred through a pump. Part of the mix
  goes through a hose to each calf. Mr. Farmer
  currently drags this hose to each calf pen, from
  one end of the 100-foot barn to the other.

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3 Feeding Milk Replacer

• Limitation
• Carrying a 50-pound bag and lifting it to dump
  into the mixer is something that Mr. Farmer
  cannot do it must be done for him. Dragging the
  hose from the mixer to each calf is difficult for
  Mr. Farmer and stressful to his back.
• Goal
• Mr. Farmer will be able to feed milk replacer to
  his calves.

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3 - Feeding Milk Replacer

• Options
• It would be possible to use the hydraulic lift
  cart, recommended for moving the feedbags in
  Problem 2, to move the milk replacer from the
  place where it is stored to the room where it is
  mixed. Mr. Farmer could also use the hydraulic
  lift cart to transport the bags to the mixing
  room and lift them to the height of the mixer. He
  can then take them into the mixing room where he
  can cut the bags open and dump the replacer into
  the mixer, add the water, and mix.

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3 Feeding Milk Replacer

• We also talked about some options for feeding the
  milk in a way that would not require Mr. Farmer
  to drag a hose around. We discussed using a
  retractable hose, which could be attached to some
  kind of small utility vehicle in which Mr. Farmer
  could drive. Mr. Farmer is interested in a
  stainless steel reel hose because it would be
  easier to keep it sterile, and because he uses
  strong chemicals to clean his hoses and he feels
  the stainless steel would last longer. The vendor
  below is sole service because there is no
  manufactured product for this, as such, and this
  vendor was the only one willing to put together
  the pieces for this. Central Wisconsin Coop,
  Podevels, Bobs Dairy, and Dairy Services Inc
  all said they could not do this.

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3 Feeding Milk Replacer

• We also discussed the possibility of mounting a
  steel tank on a utility vehicle if it were
  purchased. Mr. Farmer could drive to the location
  of the milk replacer, which could be dumped into
  the tank, then drive to the location of the
  water, which could be added to the tank. Mr.
  Farmer could complete the mixing and then drive
  on to feed each calf out of the tank. That tank
  could also be used for watering each calf. Such a
  tank would be large and heavy, and a system would
  be needed to move the tank on and off the utility
  vehicle. Or the vehicle could be used only for
  that purpose, which may not be practical.

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3 Feeding Milk Replacer

•  If the current stationery mixer is to be used,
  with the current system of mixing milk and
  pumping it, rather than a tank that can be moved
  on a vehicle, the current mixer could be lowered
  to about 36" so that the feed bags would not have
  to be lifted so high and it would not be so
  stressful for Mr. Farmer. He said that he could
  do this.

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Hydraulic Lift Cart
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Old Water Heater
Modified Kawasaki Mule
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4 - Feeding Grain to Calves
See page 7 in report

• Job Task
• Mr. Farmer must individually feed grain and move
  milk replacer, and move bedding to each calf.
• Limitation
• Because of Mr. Farmers limitations with his
  back, he cannot do any of these activities.
• Goal
• Mr. Farmer will be able to feed and bed his
  calves.

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4 Feeding Grain to Calves

• Options
• Purchase a four-wheel drive Kawasaki Mule. Mr.
  Farmer needs the 4WD for both the weight capacity
  and the weight in the front end of the vehicle.
  Mr. Farmer has tried a John Deere Gator and he
  found it to be too wide to fit down the current
  aisles the vehicle must be less than 4 feet
  wide, which the Mule is.

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Kawasaki Mule
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5 - Clean Pens and Move Materials on the Farm

• Job Task
• Mr. Farmer has a New Holland 140 skid loader on
  his farm, which he uses to clean the pens as well
  as to move straw and other materials on the farm.
  The capacity for this skid loader is 1800 pounds.
  

See page 8 in report
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5 - Clean Pens and Move Materials on the Farm

• Goal
• Mr. Farmer will be able to clean the pens, move
  straw, and other materials on the farm.
• Options
• Purchase a 44" pallet fork, which would attach to
  the skid loader. The skid loader is equipped with
  a quick attach system, so that fork would need to
  be compatible with the quick attach.
• Explore adding a suspension under the current
  seat.

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Fork on Skid Steer
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6 - Bringing New Calvesinto the Facility
See page 9 in report

• Job Task
• Mr. Farmer brings in 160 new calves at a time,
  and each calf must be moved off the truck, into
  the facility, and into an individual pen.
• Limitation
• Moving and walking these calves from the truck
  to the pens is very stressful and difficult for
  Mr. Farmer. Often members of the family or others
  must be recruited to help with this process.

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6 - Bringing New Calvesinto the Facility

• Goal
• Mr. Farmer will be able to move new calves off
  the truck and into their individual pens.
• Options
• Purchase an enclosed calf cart, into which the
  calf can be moved directly from the truck and in
  which the calf can be moved to the individual
  calf pen at the pen, the calf cart can be opened
  and the calf can walk into the pen. This
  eliminates the need to push and pull the calves
  when he needs to move them.

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Calf Cart
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7 - Performing Herd Health Tasks on Larger Beef
Calves
See page 9 in report

• Job Task
• The beef calves that Mr. Farmer finishes for
  himself are over 1,000 pounds when he sells them.
  He needs to do medical work on these calves as
  well as castration and dehorning. As the calves
  get older and larger, Mr. Farmer needs to be able
  to restrain them so that they cannot jerk or move
  suddenly, which could pose a secondary risk of
  injury for Mr. Farmer.
• Limitation
• Because of limitations to Mr.. Farmers back, he
  cannot hold his large calves for performing herd
  health.
• Goal
• Mr. Farmer will be able to perform herd health
  on his larger calves.

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7 - Performing Herd Health Tasks on Larger Beef
Calves

• Options
• Purchase a headlock squeeze chute, which Mr.
  Farmer would keep on the farm. If the chute were
  mobile Mr. Farmer could move it from pen to pen,
  or wherever else he needed it, set it up, and
  move the cattle one by one into the chute. With
  the headlock, Mr. Farmer could restrain the
  cattle from moving in and out, and with the
  squeeze chute, Mr. Farmer could move the sides
  together around the calf, protecting himself from
  being kicked, and making it impossible for the
  calf to jerk or move while he is medicating,
  castrating, or dehorning it. Because Mr. Farmer
  would be working on varying sizes of cattle
  anywhere from 400 pounds to 1200 pounds the
  squeeze chute should be able to make it possible
  for him to work with varying sizes with one
  chute. Mr. Farmer has a For-most headlock, and
  the vendor below sells all parts for For-most. So
  he can get a chute that would attach to Mr.
  Farmers headgate.

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7 Performing Herd Health Tasks on Larger Beef
Cattle

• Because Mr. Farmer is selling on contract he also
  has to weigh his cattle as well as corral and
  house them. If a model of headlock squeeze chute
  were purchased that included a scale on it, it
  would eliminate the need to handle the cattle a
  second time, reducing the stress and pain in his
  back associated with these activities. Therefore,
  I recommend a headlock squeeze chute with a
  scale, and I recommend that this be mobile so
  that Mr. Farmer can use it wherever he needs it.
• The vendor from Buetsch Implement can also supply
  load-bars for the scale, and the scale itself.
  Mr. Farmer said that he could put the load bars
  on for the scale. There is a portable chute for
  1,635.00. This vendor also suggested moving the
  chute with the pallet fork recommended in problem
  5 above. Mr. Farmer felt that this would work for
  him.

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Squeeze Chute
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8 - Moving Calves to Larger Pens

• Job Task
• When the calves get older, Mr. Farmer moves them
  from 4 x 4 cubicles to larger pens that hold
  groups of calves. Mr. Farmer must move panels for
  each pen to effect this change.
• Limitation
• Mr. Farmer cannot move these panels and must
  rely on others to perform this task.

See page 12 in report
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8 - Moving Calves to Larger Pens

• Goal
• Mr. Farmer will be able to move the panels
  independently to change his calves housing as
  they mature.
• Options
• Fabricate and install plastic dividers with a
  hinge system. When the time comes to move the
  calves into larger pens, Mr. Farmer would simply
  open the panels against the wall, making a larger
  pen for a group of calves.
• There are no other vendors who sell these
  dividers already cut to size, and so this is
  offered as a sole source.

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The Nursery
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Calf Hutches
Housed here for 7 weeks
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The Nursery
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Transition
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Super Hutches
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Transition
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Smiling for the camera!
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Once a free stall barn
Bull Pens
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Before
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After
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Feeding Time
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Any Questions???
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Memorandum of Agreement

• Agreement with Wisconsin DVR
• the power of closure stats

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Important Note

• The outcome of the assessment is not equipment.

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AgrAbility of Wisconsin
Promoting Success in Agriculture for People with
Disabilities