People who grow up on farms, live on farms, and work on farms often don’t like the idea of ​​leaving the farm when they get old.

“They want to farm until they’re 99, or at least be part of it,” said Randon Lovering, an assistive technology consultant at North Dakota Assistive, a nonprofit that works to get devices and services of technology assistance for North Dakota and Minnesota of all ages who need it.

Courtesy / Assistance North Dakota

Keeping people in their homes as they age is less expensive than assisted living or nursing homes, both for residents and taxpayers, Lovering said. Just as importantly, staying put allows people to maintain social connections and continue to live in an environment they are more familiar with. She said people find living at home the most, which means it can be better for their mental health.

Emily Krekelberg, University of Minnesota Extension farm health and safety extension educator, said staying on the farm is an important lifestyle choice for many people.

“The (Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center) did a survey of older farmers, and their No. 1 priority is aging in on the farm,” she said. “As someone with aging parents and as someone who is aging as well — you know, maybe against my will — you know, we have to be aware that people want to stay where they are right, and we see that they’re much more successful in life if they can stay where they want.”

But sometimes, living at home – and especially when the home is also a farm – can present dangers.

According to US Census Bureau data from the 2022 American Community Survey, 45.9 percent of North Dakota residents 65 and older live in rural areas, as do 34.1 percent of Minnesota residents 65 and older. over, 54.2% of Montana residents 65 and over and 48.5% % of South Dakota residents 65 and over.

Since much of the region is considered rural, that doesn’t necessarily equate to those percentages living on farms. But many are aging on farms, and North Dakota State University Extension and the University of Minnesota Extension received a grant from the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center to try to spread the word about ways to make it safer to keep older farm residents . .

The collaboration of NDSU, UM and UMASH – with the help of outside groups such as North Dakota Assistive – provides assistance so people can stay on the farm longer, safely.

Jenny Schlecht / Agweek

“Our agricultural industry in North Dakota is definitely older, right?” said Angie Johnson, North Dakota State University Extension and Farm Safety Coordinator, noting that the national average age of U.S. farmers is 58, and North Dakota’s is slightly younger than that at nearly 57 year old. “These numbers are not going down.”

Krekelberg and Johnson took their Aging on the Farm presentation to farm shows throughout the summer, including Minnesota Farmfest and the Big Iron Farm Show. Their display included things like a variety of handrails and anti-slip stickers to add surfaces in the name of fall protection, which is a big concern for seniors, on and off the farm. Krekelberg said falls are to blame for sending people to assisted living and can even be fatal.

“We really want to show people how simple and easy it can be to install a fall arrester, you know, low budget, low labor, just to keep things a little bit safer around the farm,” he said. Krekelberg said.

Common places to look for help with fall protection include places with only a step or two or surfaces that change. She thinks of the step of entering the milk house on her home farm as an example of a place a handle might help.

Jenny Schlecht / Agweek

“I also know that on a lot of our older farms, the feed rooms have sort of sealed doors, so you have to go over a ridge. And you know, as you get older, sometimes just having a little extra grip to keep you steady as you take that step can go a long way,” she said.

Textured walking products like grip tape can also help make slippery surfaces a little less treacherous and are an affordable and easy solution, she said.

Lovering said North Dakota Assistive’s Senior Safety Program can help identify things like bed rails, shower rails, grab bars, emergency response systems and personal hearing amplifiers — “anything that would help to safety in the house”.

Low-income people or people in rural areas are considered a high priority for the program, she said.

Johnson said preventing falls is a lesson that should be learned early in life so practices that make it safer on farms are automatic. Climbing in and out of equipment using three points of contact and using fall protection on grain bins are both important practices for all ages.

Jenny Schlecht / Agweek

“So how do we really start these habits early in life? So when we start to have diminished muscle memory and other challenges to our mobility, we can make sure we practice safe techniques so we can stay put and stay on our farms,” she said.

Krekelberg and Johnson also presented tools to help with vision and hearing protection. Krekelberg said hearing and vision loss are common parts of the aging process, but they’re also ones that can make a big difference in quality of life.

“I’ve had a few people say, ‘Well, my hearing is already failing, so I don’t need hearing protection.’ Yes you do. You know, if your hearing is already failing, you need it the most because we don’t want it to get any worse,” she said.

And vision is vital for many agricultural tasks, Krekelberg said, including reading labels on pesticides or medicines. Magnifiers are useful for this, she said.

Lovering said there are also devices that can make farm tasks easier for people who experience physical limitations. She did an assessment with a farmer who needed a lift to help him get on and off tractors and combines. North Dakota Assistive worked with North Dakota Vocational Rehabilitation and

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to get the right equipment. The farmer also started using a golf cart to get around more easily.

Michaela King / Real Ag Stock

Sometimes such functional solutions aren’t just for people who can’t do a task, but to make tasks easier, Lovering said. Using devices like a tractor or even something simpler like devices that help someone get dressed can allow them to have more energy to do other tasks and enjoy life.

Lovering said it’s not unusual for requests for assistance to come from family members and caregivers, rather than the people needing assistance.

Krekelberg admits that discussions about making changes to make farms safer for older adults can be difficult.

“We don’t want to tell our father we want to put up railings, do we? But having those tough conversations now so you don’t have to have them when your loved one is in the hospital and you’re making decisions about where they’re going to live next,” she said.

“They’re really, really challenging conversations,” Johnson agreed. “My father had to have those conversations with his father, my grandfather, before he died. And so these are conversations that I know our farmers and our farm families are having, and they’re difficult.”

She said it’s important to start conversations early and not wait until problems arise.

“We need to have them early so that both sides, both people, have a say in how we move forward,” Johnson said.

It also involves going beyond talking to each other and also includes conversations with medical professionals about changing health conditions, changing boundaries, and transitioning tasks to other people on the farm. Focus on abilities, not disabilities, she said.

“We can still work on the farm, but maybe we can find another task for you to be involved in,” she said.

Lovering said anyone can contact North Dakota Assistive to learn about assistive technologies that can help increase farm safety. The organization’s website,

provides program information and contact information. In addition, North Dakota Assistive is working with other organizations to try to find grants and other assistance to make the devices more accessible.

Johnson said it’s important to talk about safety regardless of the age of the people involved, and it’s important not just to ask older people on farms to make changes. Instead, it’s important that everyone practices doing things right from an early age so that it becomes the way things are done throughout life.

“We can’t stress that enough and make sure that when we have these conversations, we’re also modeling these types of behaviors. You know, if we want our children, our grandchildren, and others to take over the next generation of the farm, we have to make sure that we’re not just prioritizing safety, but actively practicing it, so that those skills. they are transferable throughout life,” she said.