TIFTON — A groundbreaking for a demonstration farm and training facility for Georgia farmers with disabilities and those who work with them to help them learn more about opportunities that help them farm easier will be held at 10 a.m. today in a ceremony near the UGA Tifton Microgin facility at the intersection of Moore Highway and Zion Hope Road.

Once complete, the AgrAbility Farm will be open to the public and available for school groups and health care and rehabilitation professionals to attend a wide variety of training..

“It will be unlike any other facility of its kind. From a lift that can aid someone in a wheelchair to get in the tractor to hand controls that can operate an all-terrain vehicle, there will be a wide variety of displays for people to see," said Becky Brightwell, AgrAbility project director.

Farming is a dangerous occupation. According to the Department of Labor, in Georgia, it is estimated that as many as 35,000 individuals living in an agricultural household have a disability.

AgrAbility is a national, free granted-funded program charged to promote independence for members of the agricultural community who have disabilities. In Georgia, the UGA Cooperative Extension in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Institute on Human Development and Disability in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences jointly manage the program.