Josie Clarke: Meet the woman dedicated to disability in farming

Searching for examples of disabled farmers after an accident in her family, Josie Clarke has become a role model for accessibility in agriculture.

Ask Josie Clarke to tell you her story, and she doesn’t talk about herself.

She’ll mention all manner of people in her life first – her father Glen, who was rendered paraplegic after a truck accident when she was just five years old; or her mother Tania, who took on the job of running the family farm as Glen adjusted to his new life – before she even begins to speak about her own work and studies.

This humble streak running like a river through everything Josie does in her life belies her many achievements, from single-handedly starting a non-profit organisation designed to better connect disabled individuals with jobs and careers in agriculture, to her PhD studies exploring crop gene editing.

It’s a sign of how all-consuming her drive is to create greater accessibility within the agriculture industry, through her organisation Ability Agriculture.

Josie said it was when her own family was grappling with their new reality following her father’s accident that she began reaching out to find other people with disabilities who had successful careers on the land.

Josie Clarke and her father Glen.

“Finding that connection and support … we used to scour for stories of different people and what they were doing. Are they on farm?” Josie said.

“We’d look out for stories, searching, and it wasn’t really a common thing to share.”

Josie has since founded Ability Agriculture: an online resource dedicated to changing the narrative around disability in the farming industry, connecting people with disabilities seeking employment and opportunities in agriculture.

“We don’t talk about (disability) in rural areas … that there are people with disabilities in the industry,” Josie said.

“There’s this image of just getting on with it, that farmers are so resilient. And there is resilience, but there’s also the need to talk about these things, and to show that there’s awareness and support.”