Need Sparks Creativity

Losing a limb in an auger entanglement accident nearly put an end to Britney Duncan’s

job as livestock caretaker on their beef, dairy, and sheep farm. It was hard to visualize

how she could continue to milk cows for their herd share, feed ewes and steers, and

navigate lambing season.

Her husband Joel wasted no time after learning about Ned Stoller’s credentials and

services to farmers with injuries. In fact, he discovered Stoller before Brittney was

released from the hospital.

After a visit to the farm and analyzing Brittney’s most critical farm tasks, Stoller

developed a plan that would let them keep the farm enterprise they were building with

Brittney as the daily livestock caretaker while Joel worked an off-farm day job.

Sheep are not the largest animal on the farm, but they have the least respect for

personal space. Feeding grain inside the sheep shed while navigating on a prosthetic

was a recipe for disaster. A creative solution was to feed into fenceline bunks from

outside the building. Manually handling buckets of grain was replaced with a 300-pound

portable grain feeder equipped with scale and remote control. The grain and hay square

bales are delivered by UTV. Joel re-engineered the feeder spout, so waste is minimal

when pouring into the bunk.

Raising livestock requires material handling. Wrangling heavy, bulky buckets of grain

and milk was another obstacle keeping her sidelined. An electric powered lift helps

Brittney raise the grain feeder onto the UTV and lifts the milk bucket onto a heavy-duty

cart that carries the milk into her milk house.

A new obstacle got in the way when the door frame and floor between milking area and

milk house were not level. Lifting the wagon’s front, then back wheels over the frame

was a bad prospect for Brittney and the fresh milk. Rubber door ramps were placed on

either side of the frame, creating a smooth ramp and easy transition into either

workspace.

Working with the state’s vocational rehab services funded all the items except for Joel’s

revisions to the portable feeder.

Stoller is a licensed vendor in Michigan and Indiana and has provided guidance through

the process of vocational rehab funding in those states. He can guide you through the

same process.

Call today to begin your journey back to the barn. You are only one phone call away

from a work smarter not harder approach.