History

How the FARM Program Started

In the early 1990s, Easter Seals Wisconsin staff was hearing from its rural clients that vocational rehabilitation programs were not meeting the needs of farmers. To address that need, the Easter Seals FARM Program (Farm Assessment and Rehabilitation Methods) worked with the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) to provide individualized, on-farm vocational rehabilitation services. Outreach, during the early years of the FARM Program, really meant dozens of cups of coffee at farm shows and gaining trust, one farmer at a time.

It also meant working with caseworkers at DVR to develop a perspective about farmers that included the possibility of a fifty-year-old farmer with knee problems continuing to milk 80 cows throughout a Wisconsin winter. As each successful case proved that appropriate accommodations could keep farmers in their chosen vocation, referrals multiplied.

How FARM has Grown

Since 1991, the FARM Program has served more than 1,600 farmers. In 2009, the program served 450 farmers.

Our Services

Our Rural Rehabilitation Specialists have farm backgrounds and understand the issues farmers face every day. This makes it possible for them to communicate with farmers and collaborate with them to identify limitations affecting farm tasks and discuss accommodations for disabilities.

Each farmer receives an average of more than 40 hours of service. This includes an on-farm assessment by a rural rehabilitation specialist, development of plans for accommodation, identification of suitable assistive technology, gathering multiple cost estimates for equipment, working with DVR counselors to discuss farm issues, and case management to assure that the plan is successfully implemented.