Jim Chew farms 30 acres of pistachios and has been a farmer his whole life. He learned of AgrAbility through an article featuring Tennessee AgrAbility on Amplitude Magazine and through NRCS. Jim lost one of his legs when he was hit by a vehicle on the side of the road as he hauled goats. After six weeks in the hospital, he was released and immediately continued back on his farm with a walker and did everything he could on one leg.
At his farm, California AgrAbility identified his tractor as a safety hazard as the tractor did not have ROPS, steps, or grab bars. To get on, Jim parked on a hill pulling himself up with a rope on the side of the tractor closer to the ground. Jim also had difficulty using the foot controls on his forklift. Staff introduced him to the portable vehicle hand controls which he borrowed from Ability Tool’s NATADS device lending library to use on his forklift. He found the hand controls useful. UC Davis Extension advisors recommended replacing his tractor model rather than retrofitting it for safety. Jim was also awarded a grant from NRCS which funded 75% of a new tractor to reduce air pollution from old tractors. Staff worked with Jim and DOR to fund the remaining 25%. Unfortunately, many administrative challenges prevented Jim from receiving the remaining funding. Although the process was long and exhaustive, Jim never gave up and was willing to try different approaches to farm safely. His story illustrates the complications faced to provide help to farmers with a disability, but it is important to persist because they will never stop farming; farming is a vocation. Ultimately, Jim was able to replace his tractor with a safer option with the help of Kubota.