David is a beef cattle farmer in Bland County. David contacted AgrAbility Virginia because he was having difficulty dismounting his tractor or side-by-side to open and close gates around the farm while moving from pasture to pasture. AgrAbility staff visited David at his farm and talked to him about his goals and what types of support he might need. AgrAbility staff helped David identify an assistive technology that would allow him to move more easily around his farm: automatic gate openers. David now has two automatic gate openers that allow him to move between pastures to tend to his animals without getting on and off his tractor. With help from AgrAbility staff, David was able to get his automatic gate openers funded through grants.
For more information about the gate openers David uses, refer to our publication 'Assistive Technologies for Lower Extremity Mobility on the Farm' (Beshada, Mason, & Niewolny, 2021).