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Barber lives on a 100-acre Century Farm in Unionville. \u201cI grew up on this farm, so I can still picture my grandfather and my dad working here. Even though I\u2019m doing a certain task by myself, I know they\u2019re here in spirit. I made a promise to my dad to work our farm as long as I can. In our family, our word is our bond. When we say we\u2019re going to do something, we make every effort to do so,\u201d Barber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barber lost his grandfather in 1997 and his dad in 2020. During this time, much-needed changes were already taking place on the farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When I was deemed legally blind, we had already started adapting the farm to be more accessible. My grandfather and my dad were problem solvers. They always tried to find a workaround to accomplish the mission at hand. Dealing with vision loss really is no different. I have had to take on their traits in life and also become a problem solver. With farming, problems often arise. It\u2019s bad enough to work through those issues, but vision impairment compounds the issue. However, being from a \u2018bullheaded\u2019 family, we refuse to be beaten and instead find a way to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Artificial intelligence (AI), networking with others who are visually impaired through YouTube channels, websites, and Facebook pages, coupled with several agencies such as Tennessee AgrAbility and the STAR Center, gives Barber the independence needed to continue working on his farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI never had a smartphone until 2019. After trying different applications on the farm, there are two I focus on now. One is called \u2018Be My Eyes,\u2019 which uses AI to describe what is in front of me. And recently, ChatGPT has become a huge game-changer. It seems like technology is staying ahead of my vision loss. Once I feel like my vision has decreased, it doesn\u2019t seem to be a big issue because assistive technology caters to my needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barber has no central vision. His peripheral vision is blurry, so he relies on other senses to maneuver through his farm chores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven though there are certain things I cannot see, my sense of hearing, taste, smell\u2026 always fills in the blanks. I was cutting hay recently, and I could smell something. I didn\u2019t know exactly what it was, but I knew something was wrong. Then I started hearing the tractor and hay mower making a sound. Hay had wrapped around the driveshaft of my mower. I also know when my cattle are sick, even though I\u2019m not able to see their reactions. I sometimes have to ask for assistance. But if farming were easy, everybody would be doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of his \u201ccan-do\u201d attitude and willingness to help others struggling with vision loss, Barber isn\u2019t just adding to his bucket list; he\u2019s adding to his ever-growing resume. Channel 5 News, the Tennessee Department of Human Services, and other media outlets have shared his inspirational story. He recently became a Tennessee representative with AgrAbility, leading him to attend their national conference in four states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI discovered AgrAbility as well as the STAR Center around 2018. I felt like this was a new calling in my life. They\u2019ve been behind me since day one. They helped me to obtain the assistive technology and support I need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a way of giving back, Barber started a YouTube channel. \u201cTo answer questions on how I do things, I created \u2018Farming Blind with Duck.\u2019 My channel explains how someone who is visually impaired can own and operate a 100-acre farm, tend to nearly 30 head of cattle, bundle thousands of bales of hay, and mend fences. I want to show people it can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though he doesn\u2019t plan to retire soon, Barber and his sweetheart will check an Alaskan cruise and several other items off their bucket list within the next two years. GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WE HAVE understood the term \u201ckick the bucket\u201d for centuries. But it wasn\u2019t until 2007 that screenwriter Justin Zackham coined the phrase \u201cbucket list,\u201d following the release of his film, which co-starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. In the movie, two terminally ill men \u2014 one a billionaire and the other a mechanic \u2014 set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":24237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/3-1024x683.png\")
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