By Kerry Hoffschneider
“I want to keep farming,” said Heath Osborn on a Nebraska farm nestled between Tilden and Meadow Grove that he runs with his dad, Kirk and brother, Joe.
This phrase would be echoed by most farmers trying to stay in the industry they enjoy, but for Osborn, it has meant facing life in ways most have not – at age six weeks old, his parents Kirk and Cindy found out their son had neuroblastoma, a rare cancer arising from immature nerve cells throughout the body.
“They removed the tumor and in doing so, also severed the nerves,” Osborn explained. “I have pain, but a lot of what I deal with is numbness.”
Not knowing any difference, Osborn has pushed through the pain, surgeries, and numerous challenges and yet still thrives on the fourth-generation farm raising corn, beans, alfalfa, and an Angus cow/calf herd, “I could walk with leg braces until about 2007 and then the scar tissues started building up and tearing my spine up. I had to have three surgeries in a year. One was because I had also developed MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) in my back. Since that time, I have been on crutches.”
“Then, in 2019, I got done with harvest and was going to work for a feedlot in the wintertime,” he went on. “The morning I was going to go back, I could not turn over because it hurt too badly. It turns out I had fractured a vertebra and the vertebrae on my spine were sliding off the top and bottom of each other. They did another surgery in March of 2019. I ended up having three surgeries n a three-week period. They went in and put rods in, then there was a tear that caused spinal fluid to leak inside and outside of my body. So, they had to fix that too.”
“Finally, the following October, I could do something again,” Osborn said. “However, with the rods, I could not twist anymore. I couldn’t do things the same way I had. I could get into the tractor, but it hurt so badly every time I did it. That’s when we reached out to Nebraska AgrAbility.” 
Kirk and Cindy were first introduced to the Nebraska AgrAbility program when their son was growing up, “Back when I was in late elementary or junior high school, we got hooked up with them because I was having surgeries then too. They came to the farm to see if they could make modifications then, but there was still not a lot that could be done because I could do just about anything on my own at that point.”
After his 2019 surgeries, it became apparent the program might be of some help, so they reached out again. Nebraska AgrAbility is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded opportunity that is free to clients and delivered in tandem by staff of Easterseals Nebraska and Nebraska Extension. Rural Rehabilitation Specialists on the AgrAbility team conduct onsite assessments of the grounds and tasks and offer suggestions on modifications to work tasks and equipment to increase independence and promote farm safety.
“Some will come to Nebraska AgrAbility thinking we pay for the items we secure for farmers and ranchers, or they think our program has the money for purchasing. We are actually not the funding source,” explained Angie Howell – Vice President, Easterseals Nebraska. “What we do is provide the expertise and appropriate recommendations based on the identified limitations faced by the clients we serve. We offer resource coordination and facilitate needed referrals to community resources. We also work closely with Nebraska VR, Assistive Technology Partnership (ATP) and others who may know of ways farmers and ranchers can gain access to the resources they need. It’s all about sharing and collaboration. Nebraska AgrAbility staff are motivated and inspired to serve the agricultural community!”
Emily Jacobson is a Lead Rural Rehabilitation Specialist for Easterseals Nebraska – Nebraska AgrAbility. She is the one who has been primarily working with Osborn to identify the support and secure the help he needs, “I knew Emily from college and grew up in the area. She was very helpful. Once we got through all the paperwork, it went fairly smoothly.”
Jacobson explained that resource coordination offered by Nebraska AgrAbility and funding available from Nebraska VR has helped Osborn secure a lift for his tractor and drive-through gates as well as a side-by-side utility task vehicle (UTV) for the farm with hand controls. Nebraska AgrAbility started the process to garner the UTV with Nebraska VR. Chive Charities were able to fund the remaining balance of the piece of equipment.
Most recently, Jacobson worked with the Nebraska Agriculture Assistive Technology (AT) Fund to help Osborn fund a livestock trailer with a hydraulic jack. Jacobson explained, “AgrAbility staff believed that a livestock trailer and controlled hydraulic jack system would help Heath be more efficient and productive in taking care of his cattle. The hydraulic jack allows him to back up the trailer and push a button to lower the trailer onto the pickup and then raise it as well. The Nebraska AgrAbility team is so pleased Heath could utilize our program, Nebraska VR services and the Ag AT Fund!”
“I want to keep farming,” Osborn reiterated about the future he wants to keep building with his wife Jacie. “That’s basically all I have ever done is work on the farm and do side work to make extra income. I would definitely encourage farmers and ranchers to ask about the Nebraska AgrAbility program. It helped me secure equipment to work independently that I would have not been able to afford while we kept up with paying our health insurance and everything else. I really appreciate their help!”