Overcoming Obstacles
On Nov. 19, Easter Seals Iowa recognized Russell Boseck of Villisca as “Farmer of the Year” at its annual meeting in Des Moines.
Boseck was severely injured in a motorcycle accident 20 years ago causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down. He was referred to Chuck Larson, Rural Rehabilitation Specialist with Easter Seals.
“I’m a farmer, and that’s all I ever wanted to be,” said Boseck. “After the accident, I didn’t know if I could still do it. I worked at CDS in Red Oak for a while, and then I went to electronics school and tried that, but it just wasn’t my thing.”
With the encouragement of Easter Seals and the help of his son, Boseck went back to farming, running a hog operation. When his son moved away, Boseck realized he wouldn’t be able to continue with hogs on his own.
Larson had a suggestion.
“I knew some other wheelchair-bound farmers who ran bottle-calf operations successfully, and I thought that could work out well for Russell.”
Dairies breed their cows for the milk production, the calves are just a by-product. Boseck takes in day-old calves, raises and sells them. He estimates he raises about 600 calves a year. At present he has 40 on his acreage.
Last spring, he received a grant from Sodoxo, a food purveyor for delis, restaurants and institutions that provides grants to promote food for local communities. This helped him build a barn which is specially adapted for wheelchair accessibility. The grant paid for the outer steel structure of the barn. Boseck did the rest of the construction: interior wood walls, stall partitions, insulation and electrical wiring, with the help of a friend, Randall Conry.
“We keep the calves in here for a couple of weeks,” Boseck explained. “The first week they’re each kept separate for quarantine. Then several can be together in the larger pen. After that, they go outside. They tolerate the cold just fine.”
The calves are fed two bottles a day for about five weeks, then gradually switched over to grain and hay. Boseck will sell the calves at any point during the process if someone wants them, but if they are with him long enough to reach 600 pounds, they are taken to a sale barn and auctioned off to make room for newcomers.
On Nov. 22, Boseck received a special new wheelchair called a “Track Chair,” manufactured by Barton Medical Equipment of Mt. Pleasant and delivered by Todd Barton himself.
This was made possible by a collaboration between Easter Seals Iowa and Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services. The Track Chair was originally designed for use by sportsmen but has proven useful for any disabled person who works outdoors.
“It’s a major safety issue,” Larson said. “Working out here alone, Russell could get stuck in the mud, or snow, and in fact that has happened several times. He was able to use his cell phone and get help, but sometimes the help took a couple of hours getting here. In really cold winter conditions, or in extreme summer heat, that could quickly become life-threatening.”
The danger of him getting stuck will be greatly reduced by the Track Chair.
“In my 25 years with Rural Solutions, this is the best technology I’ve ever seen in wheelchairs for outdoor activities,” Larson said.
Thanks to Easter Seals Iowa’s Rural Solutions program, and Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Boseck, and many other Iowa farmers with disabilities, are able to continue doing the work they love.