The Fearless Farmer

Mike Duxbury was only six years old when he lost his sight from infantile glaucoma. 

Raised by a family of agriculturists, he always knew he was born to be a farmer... and he wasn't about to let his blindness stop him from achieving his dream.

🌾❤️🐷 Dream → reality... Despite some prejudices and stereotypes he faced in the 1980's, Mike graduated from Warwickshire College of Agriculture with his degree in agricultural business management. 

• A grateful Mike shared he "learned at college to do the things I wanted to do. They gave me every opportunity; they never put up a barrier.”

Fast-forward to today, and he and his partner have founded one of the UK's first farms – rightfully named "The Inclusive Farm" – completely dedicated to training those with disabilities in agriculture. 

🔨🚜 How does it work?... The Inclusive Farm is built using a variety of different strategies so Mike and his students can move around freely.

• Each animal enclosure has different types of fencing, to ensure the farmers know which pen they are entering. They also use strategic mats on the floor to signal exactly where someone is stepping at any time. 
• And while his students all live with disabilities, Mike has a high standard of work for each of them. “We are a working farm," Mike says, "and what students see and what students do is part of that working farm. They learn that animals need to be kept clean, fed and watered. I don’t do anything with the students that a working farm wouldn’t do on a daily basis.”

❤️🗯 Bottom line: Mike's goal for the farm is to show the world that people with disabilities can achieve whatever they put their mind to. 

• “We’re trying to give people hope and a chance to stop thinking about limitations and start looking at what they really can do,” Mike says. "We can cater for pretty well every disability... There is plenty of room for people like myself to go and develop a career in whatever we choose to do.”