Jeff Purvis and his family moved to Wisconsin to be closer to family and for the hunting, but it was an auto accident that ultimately motivated him towards his dream to farm. Purvis grew up on his family’s hobby farm in Indiana, where he was involved in 4-H and FFA. After high school graduation, Purvis spent four years in the army. For a majority of his working years, he was employed in the heavy construction field.

In the summer of 1998, he was working in residential construction when he was injured in an auto accident on the job. This caused back problems and a tingling sensation in his legs, which restricted him to light duty work and a lifting limitation of no more than 15 to 20 pounds with occasional bending. Realizing that his work in construction could be no more, Purvis sought assistance from the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR).

Developing Partnerships

With his back problems making it difficult to work for more than a three-hour stretch without a break, Purvis explored the idea of starting his own business and utilizing the empty buildings currently on his Spencer, Wisconsin farm. With this in mind, his DVR counselor brought the AgrAbility of Wisconsin program into the mix.

Paul Leverenz, Director of the Easter Seals Wisconsin’s FARM Program and AgrAbility partner, recalls Purvis needing to work through two stages: first, determining what would be a viable agricultural operation given his disability; and second, determining what changes would need to be made based on the selected operation. To help with this decision-making process, AgrAbility of Wisconsin made Purvis aware of various options and coordinated involvement from Purvis’ local county extension agent. In the end, it was ultimately up to Purvis to decide what to do.

Making the Decision

Taking the ideas presented to him, Purvis continued to peruse the newspapers searching for a job that would fit his skills and abilities. That is where he found an advertisement by a national agricultural cooperative about custom calf raising opportunities.

Changes were needed before Purvis could begin raising calves. First, his barn was modified from a freestall housing design to individual calf housing. Removal of a bunk feeder and installation of a feed room for preparing and mixing calf milk replacer was also necessary. In May 1999, Purvis and his wife, Debbie, began raising 80 calves with a 100% success rate for the national agricultural cooperative. But, in November 2001, they began contract raising calves for area dairy farms on their own.

As of April 2003 Jeff and Debbie raise calves for six different dairy operations and have over 450 calves on the farm at any one time. They expect to be raising upwards of 1,000 calves by June 2003. Debbie left work at the Marshfield Clinic and became an important part of the business’ success, taking care of the bookwork and the tasks that had caused Purvis difficulty. Debbie reports, “I’m really glad to be working alongside Jeff and I love working with the calves.”

Purvis makes use of several items that help him complete his daily tasks with more ease.

• A skid steer with a fork is used to move pallets of feed, bales of hay and straw, and calf hutches around the operation. He is currently looking into acquiring a skid steer with a heated cab and side-entry door for ease of entry and exit.
• A feed cart with bicycle tires is used for moving smaller items around the farm.
• A grain bin is used for storing calf starter. Purvis is looking into obtaining a second bin for additional feed needs of older calves. Use of the grain bin reduces the need for moving, lifting, and overall managing 50-lb bags of feed.
• A calf cart is used for moving calves from one location to another.
• A pig scale is used for weighing calves up to 13-14 weeks of age. Calves older than 13-14 weeks are weighed at the squeeze chute. Purvis has found that keeping accurate records of the calves’ growth rates helps him to better manage his business.

Working With AgrAbility

“Some people we work with are farming better because of our involvement, while Jeff is farming because of our involvement,” Leverenz proudly noted. He expressed further gratification in helping individuals change their mindsets so that they work to incorporate their disability into the continuous planning process. This is something that Purvis has demonstrated over and over as he and his wife have developed their business into what it is today.

“I used to worry so much about Jeff working outside alone. They [AgrAbility staff] have made me more comfortable having Jeff doing things by himself,” says Debbie. Working together, Leverenz and Purvis discussed his limitations and talked about ways to prevent further injuries.

Purvis himself says, “There isn’t enough good things to say about DVR and AgrAbility [of Wisconsin]. If it wasn’t for them, I would probably be collecting unemployment right now.”

Adapted from Winter 2002 Plowing Ahead, AgrAbility of Wisconsin’s newsletter.