Top award for disability impact study

A NATIONWIDE study on the impact of disability on farm management and income has received the top award in the Agricultural Science Association (ASA) International Research Fund competition for 2006.

The fund, which is sponsored by AIB, enables ASA members to travel anywhere in the world to examine technologies and policies that could benefit the industry here.

Shane Whelan, who is studying the implications of disability at farm level as part of a joint UCD/Teagasc post-graduate research programme, won the award for 2006.

He will use the fund to travel to the United States, where he will examine the support systems for farmers with disabilities.

Announcing the award, ASA president Dermot Ruane said disabling conditions are higher in farming than in most other occupations.

Due to the nature of farming, various conditions have a huge bearing on the operation of the business. These conditions include arthritis, back problems, diabetes, farmers’ lung, heart disease, amputationa, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

“However, their actual impact has never been quantified,” Mr Ruane said.

He said the greater the participation level by farmers in the study the more impact it is likely to have.

He urged farm families suffering from disabilities who wish to participate to make direct contact with Shane Whelan on 087-6739212 or [e-mail].