Ohio farmers are on average 57.8 years old. And with aging comes agility issues. CFAES Professor Dee Jepsen, state safety leader for OSU Extension and Ohio AgrAbility program director, advises a senior capstone design course in which engineering students try to solve real-life challenges.
For the past five years, four teams have worked on a solution to help an Ohio producer dealing with lower limb mobility issues get into a skid loader. Last year’s team came so close that they won the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering’s Innovator Award.
Looking for resources and advice about how to adapt equipment and workspaces for mobility challenges? Contact the AgrAbility team now before planting season begins: go.osu.edu/agrability- assist.