Mental Health

AgriSafe Network Offers 'Total Farmer Health Tools' To Support Mental Well-Being

Tue, 12 May 2026 19:34:43 GMT

With over 95% of U.S. farms operating as family-owned businesses, the line between workplace stress and home life is often nonexistent. To combat rising rates of depression and anxiety on the farm and across rural America, the AgriSafe Network is expanding its “Total Farmer Health” program to provide specialized crisis support and peer-to-peer resources.

Tara Haskins, program director, says the goal is to provide a safety net that supports the unique cultural landscape of agriculture — where a neighbor’s “check-in” can be just as vital as a professional intervention.

“We really feel strongly that we apply a total farmer health model,” Haskins says. “We realize that physical health is just a part of it. The social, the occupational, and the spiritual — all those aspects of health also play a role in farmer and rancher health.”

A Model Built For The Modern Farm

Founded 25 years ago by rural nurses and public health professionals, the AgriSafe Network is a national 501c3 nonprofit that bridges the gap between healthcare and agriculture. The organization’s Total Farmer Health model deliberately places the family at the core of its mission.

“The family plays a very unique dynamic in agriculture, so we felt like that needed to be at the center,” Haskins told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Tuesday.

The model addresses a constellation of “buckets” that circle the family unit, including occupational hazards, sleep deprivation, and spirituality. By categorizing resources this way, AgriSafe helps farmers identify how specific stressors — like a poor harvest or a physical safety hazard — trickle down into their emotional well-being.

Navigating The Crisis Across Rural America

For those in immediate distress, Haskins emphasizes that different tools serve different needs. The national 988 number is a vital catch-all. In addition, AgriSafe offers The AgriStress Helpline, a suicide and crisis line specifically for agricultural communities in 11 states. It’s available at (833) 897-2474.

“Those are really geared toward helping people in crisis in the moment and are available 24-7 by call and text,” Haskins says. “It helps keep them out of the hospital and can help bridge them to resources.”

However, therapy isn’t the only answer. Haskins points to the American Farm Bureau Federation Togetherall program as a premier example of peer-to-peer support.

“Farmers can talk to farmers about their issues; it’s amazing how important peer-to-peer support is,” she says.

How You Can Help A Neighbor

One of the greatest hurdles in rural mental health is knowing what to say when a friend or colleague admits they are struggling. Haskins advises that the goal is never to “fix” the problem, but to provide that individual with a safe harbor.

“First and foremost, anytime someone discloses their troubles, I think a good first step is to always thank them for trusting you to have that conversation,” Haskins says.

She offers three key strategies for supporters:

1. Listen to understand: “We need to focus our listening to understand, not listening to respond,” Haskins says.
2. Honor the silence: There is no need to fill every gap in a conversation with words. Silence gives the person space to process.
3. Validate the feeling: Simple phrases like, “It sounds like you’re dealing with a lot right now,” communicate empathy.

If you are the one noticing changes in a family member, neighbor or friend — such as withdrawal or uncharacteristic behavior — Haskins suggests using a gentle, observation-based opening: “I’ve noticed you haven’t seemed like yourself lately. I just want to check in.”

For those seeking professional help, AgriSafe maintains the AgriStress Provider Directory. This database features behavioral health professionals who have completed “Farm Response” training, ensuring they understand the specific cultural and economic pressures of the agricultural lifestyle.

“They’re well-positioned to really level up in a conversation with someone that’s in agriculture,” Haskins says.

More resources, training, and the provider directory are available at agrisafe.org. Also, learn more by listening to the conversation between Haskins and Flory on AgriTalk at the link below:

Mental Health in the Pork Industry: Redefining Grit with Maddison Caldwell

Mon, 11 May 2026 13:56:43 GMT

In the stock show world, Maddison Caldwell was the blueprint of a firstborn overachiever: disciplined, organized and a perfectionist. But while she thrived in the black-and-white rules of life, the “gray areas” nearly cost her everything.

In college, she took a mandatory psychology class and realized she related to many of the topics they talked about. Caldwell sought help from her primary care physician, not knowing at the time that specialists existed for what she was feeling.

After months of increasing dosages, she reached a medical ceiling. When her doctor told her it was the maximum dose and ‘sent her on her way,’ she felt she had run out of options. Within five months, she attempted to end her life twice.

Private Pain to Public Hope

When she shared her personal battle in January 2022 , her story stopped being just hers. It became a shared common ground for others fighting silent battles.

“As soon as the article came out, it was like the floodgates opened,” she says. “All of a sudden, complete strangers – even people who weren’t involved with agriculture – of all ages from across the country reached out.”

Although it wasn’t easy to have the most painful moments of her life become table conversation, she doesn’t regret the decision to share it with others.

“This story came out right around the time I was starting my career,” Caldwell says. “I was reporting to an executive at a large company, and one of his coworkers on the executive team asked him, ‘Have you Googled her?’”

(Provided by Maddison Caldwell)

She will never forget when he asked her about it and the conversation that followed.

“He was quite a bit older than I am, and from a generation that didn’t talk about these things,” Caldwell adds. “It was a really uncomfortable and really hard conversation.”

But she believes those conversations are more important than ever.

“Doing things like that bring us one step closer,” Caldwell says. “I hope I never lose the drive to keep being uncomfortable in order to help people.”

Redefining Grit in Agriculture

Agriculture is making progress when it comes to talking about mental health and recognizing the importance of conversation.

“I don’t think we are great at sitting in that uncomfortable state,” she says. “We want to fix it and move on, or minimize it, or work harder and stay busy doing anything that allows us to avoid facing the reality of it.”

She believes it’s time to redefine “grit” in agriculture.

“In my opinion, grit means being honest with ourselves,” Caldwell explains. “I think it means coming to the realization that we need to reach out for help sometimes. It’s about the courage to be vulnerable.”

She also challenges the industry to stop equating grit with silence.

“You cannot pour from an empty cup,” she warns.

In an industry that prizes working until the job is done, Caldwell says the ultimate display of grit is the courage to admit when you’re running on empty.

Warning Signs

With one in five U.S. adults facing mental health conditions and one in five high school students considering suicide, Caldwell isn’t shy about offering advice now.

“One of the things I did was bury myself in work, in being productive, in not taking any time to just stop and ‘smell the roses,’” Caldwell says. “If you notice people withdrawing from activities that they would have once loved, pay attention. If they’re exhausted all the time, if they’re not talking as much, if they use the words ‘I’m fine’ all too often, or if they are pouring so much into other people at their own expense, those could be signs.”

Looking back, she admits it’s hard to recognize herself during those years. Her mindset is much different now. She challenges people to stop shying away from asking hard questions.

“People often think if you say the word suicide, it’s going to put that idea in someone’s mind,” Caldwell says. “Let me be clear that this thought was already in my head when I was struggling. I don’t know what would have happened if someone just blankly asked me if I was thinking about suicide, because that’s not something people talk about.”

Healing Is Not a Straight Line

Today, Caldwell lives by a quote she read early in her recovery process: “When we recover loudly, we keep others from dying quietly.”

“I will shout my story to the rooftops if it means that one person feels less alone in how they’re feeling,” she says.

Healing looks different for everyone, and everyone needs different tools, Caldwell explains. She compares it to going to Starbucks to get a cup of coffee and then realizing you don’t like it.

“Does it mean that you’re going to stop going to Starbucks altogether, or, even worse, stop drinking coffee altogether?” she says. “Absolutely not. Sometimes you just need to go to different places or add in a little sugar here and there based on personal preference. I feel like my healing journey is like that.”

Caldwell says the “gray areas” are still terrifying at times. But she’s learned that true bravery is figuring out how to thrive even when a clear plan isn’t visible. Healing hasn’t removed the stressors in her life, but it has increased her capacity to handle them.

The one thing that has changed in the past six years is her willingness to have uncomfortable conversations and ask hard questions. She is grateful for the family, friends and professionals that support her in doing this.

“Transparency looks different now,” she says. “I can text my mom to just say, ‘It’s not a good day today.’ That’s something I never would have done because I didn’t feel comfortable saying that.”

Stay Beyond the Crisis

Her message to farm families is simple: don’t just show up for the crisis; show up for the recovery.

“Stay to see them thrive,” Caldwell says. “Stay to hear people like my mom say that ‘the light has returned’ in their eyes.”

Maddison’s family members have been a key support to her in the healing journey.

(Provided by Maddison Caldwell)

On the sixth anniversary of being alive after her last suicide attempt, Caldwell lit a candle and blew it out surrounded by her inner circle.

“As I looked around at the simplest of things, I was so grateful,” she says. “I was flooded with all the beautiful moments I have had since that time that I would have missed out on.”

Discover more about Caldwell’s journey – the challenges that would have wrecked her before, the most unexpected people who helped her recover and the joy she finds in her career today – by watching “The PORK Podcast” on YouTube or by listening to it anywhere podcasts are found.

No one has to struggle alone. If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available 24/7. Call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Beyond the Blame Game: Navigate the Mental Toll of Modern Ag

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 13:55:11 GMT

When market pressures mount, it is easy to succumb to the “blame game.” Yet, the most resilient operations are those that anchor themselves in a mission larger than the current balance sheet. For leaders like James Burgum and Lamar Steiger, coping with stress isn’t just about managing the books, it’s about managing the mindset.

The Many Hats of the Modern Producer

James Burgum, CEO of The Arthur Companies, believes the first step in managing stress is acknowledging the sheer weight of the roles farmers play.

“One of the things I did when I stepped into my role is an exercise where I said to our team, ‘Help me understand all the hats on the farm – farmworker, agronomist, grain merchandiser, mechanic, truck driver, snow removal lead, banker, economist,’” Burgum said during a discussion at Top Producer Summit. “You start to go down the list, and its dozens and dozens of roles that an individual farmer plays.”

By recognizing the complexity of these roles, Burgum argues that producers can move toward servant leadership—prioritizing the team’s needs.

“There are things that are much more important and much bigger than the challenges we’re wrestling with on the job every day,” Burgum says. “It’s hard to juggle all the balls, but at the end of the day, we want everyone on our team to make sure they get home at night and be there for their families.”

Choosing Abundance Over Scarcity

Lamar Steiger, owner of The 808 Ranch, learned about stress through the lens of his father, a man who seemed to face every possible setback: health crises, financial downturns and missed market peaks.

The farm struggled during times of high interest rates in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s and his father was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, Guillain-Barre, that left him paralyzed for six months.

Still, his dad always had an attitude of abundance, not scarcity, Steiger says.

“With my brothers holding other obligations, I was left to milk the cows,” Steiger says. “We were so far behind, and all my dad would say is, ‘It could be worse.’”

Breaking the Silence

Eventually, his family lost the dairy. After hitting rock bottom and battling depression , Steiger realized that the “tough it out” mentality was a liability, not an asset.

“When the stresses pile up, you’ve got to find help,” Steiger says. “I wasn’t ‘man enough’ to step up and say, ‘Hey, something’s wrong here.’ I should have said, ‘Time out—this is not working.’”

Steiger’s advice for those feeling the weight of the current market is simple: Find your “who.” Whether it is a spouse, a neighbor or a professional, talking through the stress is the only way to separate your self-worth from the volatility of the markets.

“In agriculture, we’re so reliant on outside forces,” Steiger says. “You’ve got to have an attitude that it’s going to work out. As my Dad would say, ‘Well, we never missed a meal.’ That was his bottom line for ‘It’s okay.’”

From Constraints to Catalysts: How Ag Leaders Turn Hardships into Strategy

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:19:02 GMT

In an industry defined by “one-year-at-a-time” cycles, the greatest threat to a growing operation isn’t just a market downturn—it’s the inertia that comes with size. Farm Journal CEO Prescott Shibles argues that long-term survival requires a rare blend of faith and agility. To maintain an entrepreneurial mindset, leaders must lean into “conviction” as the core of a strategy that survives the lows.

Here is how four industry leaders are turning today’s constraints into tomorrow’s differentiators.

1. Build when times are hard.

When Brent Smith, president and CEO of NewLeaf Symbiotics, joined the company in 2023, the grain market was entering a significant down cycle. While some saw a risky time to lead a startup, he saw an opportunity.

“I learned in my first startup that the best time to build a business is in hard times,” Smith said said during a discussion at Top Producer Summit. “Because if you can’t withstand tough times, you’re not going to survive long term.”

For Smith, survival meant doubling down on the company’s core: science. Despite the pressure to cut costs, NewLeaf continues to spend half of its operating expenses on science.

“It would be very easy to peel that back,” he admits. “But we focused on projects that make the most impact the quickest, while keeping an eye on the long-term innovation in our pipeline.”

2. Control what you can control.

Farmers face the ultimate constraint every year: the weather. Scott Beck, president of Beck’s Hybrids, recalls the planting crisis of 2019 when constant rains kept tractors out of the fields well into May.

“I was concerned for our customers not being able to plant, but also for us not being able to plant our seed for the next year,” Beck says. “There was nothing that we could do to control the weather, but we could control how we interacted with our customers.”

Rather than retreating, the Beck’s team focused on transparency and empathy, using video series to connect with farmers and even forming small groups for prayer and support. Ultimately, they wanted farmers to know they cared and were there to support them however they could.

Despite the financial reality of what could happen if farmers didn’t plant and returned seed, Beck’s decided their course of action would not include employee layoffs. Instead, they prepared to sell land to protect their people.

“Fortunately, the weather broke and everybody was able to get planted,” he says. “Then the second miracle happened. We had the second warmest September on record, and that’s what brought the crop through to enable 2019 to not turn out as bad as it started.”

3. Turn disadvantages into advantages.

In 2014, Lamar Steiger, owner of The 808 Ranch, was tasked with a monumental challenge: helping Walmart reinvent its beef supply chain. At the time, the retail giant was at a disadvantage, forced to accept whatever the major meatpackers provided.

Steiger’s strategy was to turn that lack of control into a new kind of independence.

“I convinced the Walmart team to go around the traditional supply chain,” Steiger says. Today, Walmart sources 28% of its beef from its own “farm-to-table” supply chain.

There’s no question that decision was really good for Walmart. But Steiger says it was also really good for him personally.

“It reminded me that no matter how big you are, there are always challenges,” he says.

4. Create “white space” for the future.

When the day-to-day tasks of an operation become overwhelming, long-term strategy is often the first thing to go. James Burgum, CEO of The Arthur Companies, believes leaders must intentionally carve out “white space” for their teams.

“It’s important to find ways where people can actually spend their time working on the business, not just in the business,” he says.

By protecting time for team members to execute ideas that are three to five years out, Burgum manages the tension between short-term urgency and long-term viability.

“It’s hard to step away from the daily fires you’ll face in your operation, but it’s important,” he adds. “How we manage that tension of short term and long term is creating that white space and making sure that we consciously work on the business.

The Long Game

Ultimately, resilience in agriculture is about knowing when to push and when to pivot.

“You have to know when to put the gas down, and you need to know when to tap the brake,” Smith says. “And regardless of what you are doing, you need to stay focused on what you’re doing.”

Whether it is investing in science during a downturn or choosing customer empathy over the bottom line, these leaders say constraints don’t have to be roadblocks; they can be the very catalysts that drive an operation forward.

Check In on Your Health Before It Checks Out

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 22:05:33 GMT

Long hours, unpredictable schedules and physically demanding work mean farmers and ranchers often put their own health last. Erin Martinez, a Kansas State University expert in adult development and aging, says it doesn’t have to be that way. A simple annual medical exam can help catch problems before they get out of hand.

“Farmers and ranchers are very good at taking care of their livestock and land, but they sometimes forget to take care of themselves,” Martinez says. “A yearly checkup is an important step in catching potential health concerns early.”

Why Preventive Care Matters
Farming is physically demanding and unpredictable. Long hours and seasonal peaks make it easy to push doctor visits aside. But routine exams allow healthcare providers to monitor important measures like blood pressure, cholesterol and other warning signs to catch potential health issues before they become serious.

“Preventive care lets providers look at the full picture of someone’s health,” Martinez says. “When we see patients regularly, we can identify changes sooner and address them before they become bigger issues.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, farmers and ranchers face higher rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and musculoskeletal injuries compared with the general population.

Take Action Before Things Get Busier

Martinez encourages producers to schedule checkups before the busy season begins. Planting, harvest and livestock seasonality can quickly push personal healthcare to the bottom of the to-do list.

“Taking the time for a yearly checkup is just like investing in your farm,” she says. “Catching potential health concerns early keeps you able to manage your operation and reduces the risk of bigger problems later.”

Routine exams also give farmers a chance to address mental health. Farming can be isolating, and stress, anxiety and depression are common in rural communities. A healthcare visit allows producers to check in on both physical and mental well-being.

Practical Tips

Taking care of yourself should be just as important as taking care of the farm. Planning ahead and making routine health care a habit helps prevent small issues from turning into bigger problems. Martinez offers a few practical ways for producers to stay on top of their health:

Schedule appointments during slower times of the year.
Ask about screenings, vaccinations, and preventive care.
Keep a record of blood pressure, cholesterol, and other key health metrics.
Involve family members to make regular checkups part of farm life.

“Farmers are usually the last ones to put themselves on the calendar,” Martinez says. “But staying on top of your health before things get busy can prevent problems that are harder to manage later.”

Love on the Farm Means Managing Stress Together

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:10:29 GMT

On today’s farms and ranches, the toughest conversations don’t always happen in the farm office. They happen with your spouse at the kitchen table or in the last few minutes before turning in for the night. That stress of farm life is constant, and it can easily spill over into your relationship.

To help couples navigate these everyday pressures, Sean Brotherson, family science specialist with North Dakota State University, and Kale Monk, associate professor of human development and family science at the University of Missouri share practical strategies couples can use to manage that stress together so they can stay connected, handle the pressures of the season and keep both their farm and their partnership running smoothly.

Where Does Stress Show Up?

Stress can show up in all sorts of everyday situations on the farm, often in ways that feel routine but can add pressure to a relationship. Here are some common areas where couples on farms and ranches may feel that tension:

Planting, harvest and busy seasons often mean long days, leaving little time for meals together, errands or family activities.
Taking an off-farm job can shift responsibilities at home, creating different role expectations than maybe what was expected.
Weekend work or caring for children can make it hard to find time for meaningful moments to connect together like date nights or family meals.

As many know, these kinds of situations are a normal part of life on a farm. But catching stress early gives couples a chance to talk it out and deal with issues before they turn into bigger problems.

Tips for Staying Connected When Farm Life Gets Busy

When life on the farm gets hectic, it’s easy for stress to take over and for couples to drift apart without even realizing it. However, small everyday habits can help keep you connected even when life feels nonstop. Brotherson and Monk list 12 tips couples can use to stay connected and support each other while managing the demands of farm and family life.

Plan Together

“Set measurable goals together for a year from now, five years from now and your lifetime together,” Brotherson says. “Make decisions about time together in farming/ranching, other jobs or retirement. Then, focus on enjoying what you have decided to do.”

Planning together is a good first step, but keeping your connection strong takes daily check-ins and small ways of looking out for each other.
Check In Daily

“Look for and give attention to early indications of stress, such as a furrowed brow or a tense voice,” Brotherson says. “Respond with love and attention as needed.”
Express Appreciation

“Take time daily to state one item you appreciate about your partner,” Brotherson says.

Showing gratitude isn’t just about being polite. Taking the time to notice and acknowledge the little things your partner does can make both of you feel more connected, appreciated and supported.

“When your partner does something you appreciate, it’s vital to express gratitude,” Monk adds. “This makes partners feel valued and helps us see how we can keep pleasing each other.”
Use Clear Communication

“In talking, use ‘I’ statements more than ‘you’ statements,” Brotherson says. “Your partner will likely not change if you argue, ‘You’re always wanting to buy something else!’ Instead, try using an ‘I’ statement, like ‘I get worried and angry when I hear you wanting to buy a new piece of equipment. What I’d like is for the two of us to sit down and decide together which major purchases we can afford.’”
Listen Carefully

“Especially on serious matters, it is important to listen well and help your partner feel they have been heard and understood,” Brotherson notes. “Listen so that you can repeat back to your partner’s satisfaction what she or he says and feels. Focus on listening without being upset or defensive.”
Be Flexible With Roles

“Letting others do things you usually do and adjusting your expectations when necessary can reduce pressures,” Brotherson adds. “Share the responsibility of things such as family chores, cooking or kid care.”
Schedule Time to Talk

“When problems arise, schedule time for the two of you to brainstorm and discuss ideas,” Brotherson says. “Weigh the costs and benefits of each solution. Arrive at a plan that enables both of you to get something you want.”
Set Aside Time as a Couple

“To keep your marriage or partnership growing, take a break from the work, the children or other distractions. If it helps, make it a rule to talk about only yourselves as a couple and not about the farm or ranch operation.”

Taking that time together doesn’t have to be serious. Making it fun can make it even more meaningful.

“The more ridiculous or fun the activity, the better, in my opinion,” Monk adds. “Do something that makes both of you laugh and enjoy each other’s company.”
Use Social Media Sparingly
Social media can be a great way to stay connected with friends and family or share pride and appreciation for your partner. But it can also create stress, spark jealousy or make us compare our lives to the polished versions others post online.

“If we try to ‘keep up’, these artificially positive glimpses into other people’s lives can leave us feeling discouraged and resentful. Becoming consumed by social media and posting excessively can indicate growing insecurity in ourselves or our relationships.”
Laugh Together
On a farm, the days are long and there’s always something demanding your attention. Brotherson suggests taking a few minutes to laugh at a small mistake or a silly moment to lighten the mood and get through the day.

“Remember, always being serious is stressful while laughter reduces stress,” Brotherson says. “Watch a funny movie, share funny stories or find other ways to laugh.”
Celebrate Milestones

“Celebrate your anniversary, birthday, the arrival of a new foal or calf, getting the field planted before the rain and other milestones. Take joy in your lives together,” Brotherson says.
Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help
Every relationship is unique, Monk says, and what works for one couple may not work for another. Partners have different needs and respond differently depending on their background, culture or experiences. If you ever feel unsure about handling challenges on your own, consider seeking therapy or counseling.

“Remember that therapy is not only for troubled relationships,” Monk adds. “Therapy can help preserve relationship happiness and prevent problems before significant conflicts arise.”

Build a Strong Partnership Over Time

Stress is a normal part of farm life. However, couples who practice daily communication, show appreciation and remain flexible often find they are better equipped to handle the pressures that come with farming or ranching.

By being intentional about their relationship, farm couples are better able to handle the busy seasons, the hard days and the everyday demands of agriculture while keeping their relationship just as much of a priority as the work.

Will Congressional Inaction Force Farmers to Choose Between Health Insurance and Their Farm Budget?

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 23:11:13 GMT

Healthcare insurance plans for some U.S. farmers could double in 2026, as enhanced federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are scheduled to expire.

The impending cost surge could affect thousands of U.S. farmers who currently rely on the ACA marketplace for their health insurance, according to the non-partisan KFF (formerly Kaiser Family Foundation), a health policy organization.

KFF estimated in 2023 that 27% of “farmers, ranchers, and other agriculture managers” relied on individual ACA market coverage. Nationally, more than 22 million Americans rely on the ACA marketplace for insurance options.

Farmers ‘Don’t Have Many Options’
Iowa farmer Aaron Lehman, who testified before Congress last week, highlighted the severity of the potential cost increase on his family. He said he expects to pay double to purchase an insurance plan for 2026 that would be comparable to what his family had this year.

“That is an incredible cost for our family budget and for our farm budget,” Lehman stated. The fifth-generation farmer and president of the Iowa Farmers Union described how rising healthcare costs are colliding with already harsh economic realities in agriculture.

“Farmers right now are trying to make all sorts of decisions because commodity prices are low, because of the chaotic trade situation that we’re in and higher input prices. All these things have made a real crisis for a lot of our farmers,” said Lehman.

“Finding ways to deal with that, we just don’t have too many options. Farmers will buy less equipment or not make the necessary upgrades and equipment that they need to,” he added. “They’ll look at their input suppliers, and they’ll decide, ‘what can we do to get through just this year … to get a plan to put the crop in the ground?’”

Read the testimony of Aaron Lehman here. A portion of his testimony and discussion is also featured on a posting to YouTube .

Signup Deadlines For Coverage
The challenge for farmers trying to decide on what insurance policy to purchase is compounded by the deadline to enroll in ACA marketplace plans: People needed to choose their ACA plan by Monday for coverage to begin Jan. 1. Open enrollment continues in most states until Jan. 15 for coverage beginning Feb. 1.

Despite broad public support for an extension to the ACA tax credits — a KFF poll said 74% of Americans favor continuing the enhanced credits — a congressional standoff has so far failed to produce a solution:

Failed Votes: Both a Democratic plan to extend the enhanced tax credits for three years and a Republican proposal to replace them with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) failed to pass the Senate last week.
Impending Crisis: Nearly six in 10 enrollees (across all categories) told KFF they could not afford even a $300 annual increase in 2026 without significantly disrupting household finances.
Political Fallout: The issue of healthcare costs and expiring subsidies is highly polarizing, with some Republicans warning that a failure to address the problem could cost them legislative majorities in next year’s mid-term elections.

As the deadline for open enrollment closes and the Dec. 31 subsidy expiration date approaches, farmers must prepare for substantially higher health insurance costs in 2026 unless Congress acts to reach a last-minute agreement.

Young Farmers Need Better Options
During his testimony and ensuing discussion, Lehman stressed that healthcare isn’t just a personal household issue; it’s central to the future of American farming. With the average age of an Iowa farmer at 57, he said the sector desperately needs young and beginning farmers to return to the land. But without affordable, reliable health coverage, inviting the next generation back onto the farm becomes a far riskier proposition.

“You have to be very smart to figure out the plan that can bring the next generation on the farm,” he said, adding that many talented, innovative young people want to farm, but face daunting financial barriers — healthcare high among them. He noted that one of his sons works with him on their family operation, which is based in Polk County, Iowa.

Lehman framed affordable healthcare for farm families as an investment, not a handout: a way to make it possible for young farmers to feed their communities, support local and regional food systems, or continue larger family commodity operations.

“Extending the federal support for lowering the cost of health insurance is a true win for farmers and for all of rural America,” he said.

Saying Goodbye to Dad: A Farmer’s Journey with Grief

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 19:37:04 GMT

Grief is hard. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a way of life, or even a dream, the pain of losing something we care about is an inevitable part of being human. However, that doesn’t make grief any easier to walk through.

On May 23, 2024, Nathan Isler lost his father, Bill, to a stroke. The man who was greater than life to him, was no longer by his side every day on their family pork and grain operation. The loss that everyone who loved him felt was undeniable.

“I don’t know how people deal with grief without faith. If you think death is just the end, it’s a hard thing to deal with,” Isler says. “For me, the toughest part is the loss of those moments where I wish he was there to talk to about things.”

In Isler’s mind, grief is more of a feeling than a definition. In the simplest of terms, he says it’s disappointment in life not going the way you want it to – not getting the answers you hoped for or not having the person you want to be there.

But grief, as painful as it feels, is also a process that can open the door to growth and resilience.

“It is impossible to live without experiencing pain at some point in our lives,” says Jorge Estrada, Global Coaching Alliance Latin America lead. “Life and pain go hand in hand. They’re part of the great dichotomies: black and white, day and night, life and death, love and pain.”

Pain isn’t an interruption to life, it’s a thread woven through it, Estrada adds. At the same time, grief isn’t a sign of weakness or failure. It’s evidence of our capacity to love deeply and to heal, even after profound loss.

Understanding Grief

“Grief hurts,” agrees Gina Forte, an expert in thanatology which is the study of death, loss and the processes that follow. “When we love someone or something, we become attached to it. The more we love, the more it hurts to lose.”

But that hurt has a purpose. Grief is an adaptive emotional process, a way to make sense of loss and find balance again, she adds. Knowing it’s a process helps people move forward.

“Perseverance is a necessity in life,” Isler says. “Life goes on. You can’t stop. You can’t lose your potential or your life. Putting my head down and getting work done – being productive – has helped me during this time.”

He says there is something healing about setting goals and pushing forward.

“Getting in your own head too much allows the grief to multiply,” Isler adds. “For me, being able to have wins and accomplish goals promotes healing.”

Forte says that’s the function of grief – to restore and heal.

“When we don’t allow ourselves to process it, grief can become unhealthy or even pathological,” she says.

From Shock to Acceptance

When loss hits, no one is ready to understand or accept it fully. The stages of grief all play a key role in the process. Forte outlined the seven stages of grief:

Grief isn’t a straight line, she says. Sometimes people circle back to the same stage again, but the visits grow shorter over time.

One day, one of Isler’s dad’s friends showed him a video of his dad swinging on a rope at a retreat not long before he passed away.

“I don’t know what, but something triggered inside me – to see that youthfulness and joy he always had,” Isler says. “It’s hard to predict what will trigger different parts of the grief process. I have found that the return to different stages gets quicker as you move on.”

On the Other Side of Loss

The resilience that emerges on the other side of loss makes us stronger people, Estrada says. In short, it’s not just surviving hardship, it’s being transformed by it.

Estrada defines resilience as the ability to navigate change, understand grief, learn, let go, and create a new reality—one that carries a better version of ourselves into the next stage of life.

“Everything you do in life changes who you are a little bit,” Isler says. “I’ve learned more about who my dad was to so many. I’ve learned not everyone has a role model like him. I hope I can live up to the example he set for my kids.”

Studies show one of the strongest predictors of resilience is having loving and supportive relationships that offer trust, encouragement and security through the grief process.

For Isler, living next door to his mom, who has been living with dementia for several years, has put him in a unique situation. Sharing stories about his dad with his mom has been especially healing.

“My mom has always been someone I could talk to easily,” Isler says. “I’ve used her as a map to put it all out there because she isn’t grieving the way the rest of us are. She knows dad isn’t around, but it doesn’t all connect for her like it does for us. When I talk about dad with her, it does nothing but bring joy to her.”

Get Off the Island

Everyone deals with grief at some point, Isler says. Maybe it’s grief from the loss of a loved one, but for farmers, grief could stem from a terrible financial situation on the farm or the loss of a business you’ve built your life around.

“For all the people who think they are alone, it’s just not the case,” he says. “We all deal with grief, and we all deal with it differently. A lot of times we put ourselves on an island – especially in our industry.”

Farmers – especially men – are some of the worst about talking about their feelings, Isler says.

“We are tough guys. We get the work done and go on,” he says. “But it helps to talk about it. Let people show up for you or go find someone to talk to if they don’t know what you are going through.”

When Isler’s sister told him that what helped her in the grief process was being around him, he was taken aback a little.

“She said I reminded her of dad and was a lot like him, that being around me made it easier not having dad around anymore,” he says. “To me, that’s the best compliment I’ve ever received.”

Don't Break, Build: A Farmer's Playbook for Taking Control of Your Mind

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 19:01:41 GMT

It was already shaping up to be one of those days.

An unexpected bill is due, and the money just isn’t there. The kids are fighting again. Understandably, your wife is over it, and now it’s your fault. One of your employees just called to say the new group of wean pigs is sick. It’s all a part of a life, but sometimes it just stacks up to be too much.

“In a world of unpredictability with so many factors at play on any given day, it’s easy to be mentally or emotionally hijacked by elements out of our control,” says Athena Diesch-Chham with Restorative Path Counseling and Wellbeing. “Stress and anxiety thrive in this environment. However, the long-term effects of that are real.”

Farming stress will never go away, so how can you get more grit or become more resilient to that stress?

One expert says it starts by paying attention to the present.

“Don’t think about what happened yesterday or worry about what is happening tomorrow,” says Cheri Burcham, with University of Illinois Extension. “Focus on what you are doing and feeling in the very moment.”

Diesch-Chham likes to think of it as “being where your feet are.”

“So often brains are hijacked by stress and launch us mentally to a different space either in the past or in the future,” Diesch-Chham adds. “Mindfulness is just asking for our whole selves to be here in this moment, wherever our feet are planted.”

Pay Attention

This concept of truly being “in the moment” not only reduces stress, but research shows it can also lower blood pressure, increase immunity and reduce anxiety and depression, Burcham says.

When you intentionally notice where you are, you can recognize potential challenges sooner, says Abigail Cudney with Michigan State University Extension . Instead of habitually reacting to stress with intense anger, emotional shutdown, negative thinking or overthinking, this intentional awareness helps rewire the brain through a process called neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to grow and adapt to new experiences.

Consider the attention you pay when walking through the barn. You use all your senses to make assessments and determine what’s going on all around you.

“Whether it’s walking the barn or enjoying the fall scenery, naming something you are currently experiencing for each of the five senses is another way to practice mindfulness,” Diesch-Chham says. “This doesn’t have to be complicated – the whole goal is to bring mind and body to the same place.”

5 Senses Technique

Just Breathe

The fight or flight response animals have when stress strikes is the same thing that happens in people. As a review, the vagus nerve, which runs from the base of the brain and branches out to the organs, serves as a conduit of chemicals/hormones that are activated automatically/reflexively by the sympathetic nervous system. This is an involuntary and adaptive process that increases respiration and blood flow to prepare the body for quick and protective action, such as fighting or fleeing. Once the perceived threat has passed or been managed successfully, the stress response also passes and respiration, blood pressure, and heart rate return to a normal steady state, according to the Yale School of Medicine .

Through deep breathing, the vagus nerve can be stimulated intentionally to help restore, mitigate and even prevent these physical and psychological reactions. Slow, even breaths that originate deep within the abdomen stimulate the vagus nerve in a way that signals safety and cues the body and mind to relax, restore, and release chronic and unhealthy patterns.

“Deep breathing can be practiced anywhere and in so many ways – so it is very accessible and easy for farmers to practice,” Burcham explains. “Practice in the field or even while operating machinery.”

Let Go of What You Can’t Control

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of “being where your feet are” is realizing you can’t control it all.

“Working towards recognizing what truly is within our individual control and then choosing to focus our energy on managing what we can control to improve our overall mental health and stress, helps us remain resilient through the pieces that are outside of our control,” Diesch-Chham says.

Adversity happens. Markets will crash. Animals will get sick. Disease will strike. Families will argue. But you can recover faster from those stresses by staying grounded in the moment, aligning your thoughts and emotions with reality.

Resources to Help Build Resilience:
North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center

Mindfulness: University of Illinois Extension

Building Resilience with Mindfulness

From Crisis to Calling: How Maddie Hokanson Found Strength in the Pork Industry

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 20:01:53 GMT

In June 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maddie Hokanson headed out for a routine doctor’s appointment. At 34 weeks pregnant, she admittedly wasn’t feeling great, but as a first-time mom, what’s normal?

She was sent to labor and delivery as a precautionary measure. Not long after, she was in a helicopter being airlifted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She and her husband, Eric, welcomed their first child, Brent, by c-section later that day.

“Brent was born with hydrops,” Hokanson explains. “He was born at 10.5 lb. He had so much fluid around his organs and it was putting pressure on his brain, liver, kidneys and lungs. He almost didn’t make it.”

After a couple rough months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the Hokansons learned a lot fast.

“I remember a friend sending me this reminder: If not, he is still good,” she says. “Sometimes things don’t go how we want, and even if that’s the case, I believe God works all things for his good.”

Because of the pandemic, nobody was able to meet Brent until he came home from the hospital. Hokanson remembers being surrounded by so many people who wanted to help and offer support. She says it was a surreal experience.

“I remember my naivety thinking that we made it home – we had made it through the hard part and now he was going to flourish,” she adds. “That definitely was not the case for the first couple of years.”

Diagnosis after diagnosis, the Hokansons struggled to take it all in: epilepsy, visual impairment, heart condition, liver failure, autism and cerebral palsy.

“The mantra, ‘this too shall pass,’ kept playing in my head, but when? When will it pass?” Hokanson says.

Perhaps it never will pass, she explains, but what they have been able to do is find joy in all that their family has instead of the comparison of what they don’t.

A Lifeline

For Hokanson, a seventh-generation farmer with Schafer Farms, the farm has served as a lifeline during these early years of adjusting to parenting a child with serious health challenges.

“The farm was my reminder that whether it’s a good day or bad day, I’m still Maddie Hokanson. I still have a purpose in the world beyond being a mother,” Hokanson says. “Coming into the farm office, talking to my parents, grandparents or employees really held me up. I needed work in order to be able to continue handling myself as a mother.”

Schafer Farms was established in 1886. Today they raise pigs, cattle, crops and operate a transportation and trucking business as well. They have two sow farms where they raise genetics for Topigs Norsvin. Getting to work with her husband, her parents, Brandon and Monica, her grandparents, Pat and Lowell, and her brother, Max, and his wife, Hollie, has been a lifelong dream for Hokanson.

“I loved being involved in the farm from a young age,” she says. “From about second grade on, it was expected that we spend our weekends with dad on the farm, breeding and farrowing sows. Although I wasn’t like some farm kids who learned how to drive a tractor when they were 8, I sure knew how to breed a sow and collected a boar by that age.”

Living Out Her ‘Why’

As she became more involved in 4-H and FFA, she started doing livestock judging and participating in communication contests. She began to see the agriculture industry was much bigger than her own farm.

“In ninth grade, we took a careers class in high school that was required as part of graduation,” Hokanson says. “I explored ag communications and learned about promoting our product. That’s when I realized I was fascinated by talking to consumers about what we do on our farms.”

She connected with a Minnesota Pork Board program, Oink Outings. Through that program, she learned how to connect with consumers and advocate for the pork industry. This eventually led her to pursue a degree in ag communications at South Dakota State University, where was she named the commencement speaker in 2019.

“I spoke about a book by Simon Sinek, ‘Start with Why,’” Hokanson says. “It’s all about finding your why in life. I tried to focus on the fact that when you think about your ‘why’ and your ‘why’ resonates with every part of your life, then it doesn’t matter so much what you are doing if you are pursuing your ‘why.’”

She says her “why” since college continues to be to ensure a successful, thriving future for the generations she will never meet.

Eric, Scott, Brent and Maddie Hokanson

(LAURA KNOPIK )

“Whether I’m home with our boys, instilling values of faith, family and farming; at the farm office working on finances as the CFO; helping in the barn; or lobbying on behalf of the pork industry in D.C., my ‘why’ is the same,” Hokanson says. “All of those things help me fulfill my ‘why.’”

Hokanson’s son Brent is now 5, and Scott is 2. She hopes they will have the opportunity to be the eighth generation of farmers in her family. That’s why she devotes so much of her life to focusing on her ‘why’.

“Sometimes, what is best for the industry doesn’t have a short-term financial or other gain for your own individual farm,” she explains. “But it does benefit the industry in the long run – whether it’s with health, markets, traceability – being willing to do things that seem mundane or complex even when you don’t see any short-term gain individually is important. At the end of the day, a rising tide lifts all boats, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the rising tide comes in.”

Hokanson shares more about farm transition, parenthood and connecting with consumers on The PORK Podcast. You can watch it here on YouTube or listen anywhere podcasts are found.

Watch more episodes here.

One Montana Farmer's Fight to Break the Generational Cycle of Failure

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 13:43:16 GMT

Ryan Lankford hasn’t just seen failure. He’s lived it.

“My father definitely tried to discourage me from farming, because it wasn’t good,” he says. “I mean, we went broke.”

“We grew up relatively poor,” he says. “We leased all of our land.”

The Lankford family had an allotment on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, the 1,014 square mile land shared by the A’aninin and Nakoda Tribes in north-central Montana.

Lankford compares the arrangement to the Homestead Act. But, it was designed for failure.

“The hard part for us as Indians is that the title was held in trust by the federal government, meaning that we really couldn’t borrow off of that title,” he says. “We had no leverage for capital, no leverage to expand and so it really limited us on resources and what we could do with our land.”

But as an Army veteran, Lankford knows how to launch an offensive. When he came back to the farm to make it his life, he did so with a mission – use every tool at his disposal to protect his farm, his Tribe and his family’s future.

Fighting for Land Ownership

As a member of the Tribe’s Agricultural Expert Committee, Ryan has helped to chip away at the generational curse of Tribal land ownership.

“Now, our Tribe owns the land, and our ground goes out to bid first to the primary members of the tribe,” he says. “As a member I live here on my allotment, and I have the first right to go bid and negotiate with my Tribe without competition from the outside.”

Under the new arrangement, Lankford and his father have brokered nearly 10,000 acres.

“I was the first generation in my family to buy land,” he says. “That’s something I’m really proud of.”

He’s also tackling another land issue – how to manage absentee land ownership.

“There’s a lot of farm ground that’s being abandoned on our reservation, because it’s too hard financially to farm here,” he says. “We don’t have a lot of the same tools you do on the other side.”

His goal is to recover some of that abandoned and neglected land and seed it in native pasture ground in an effort to restore prairie lands to the region.

Fighting for Land Stewardship

He’s already managing diversified production on 10,000 acres, where he has a Red Angus herd of cattle and grows year-round wheat, canola, peas, lentils, chickpeas, flax and barley. He’s transitioned some of his acreage to Certified Organic to capitalize on the premium market.

His relationship with conservation on the land is intensely pragmatic. Lankford views it as another tool in his arsenal – one that helps him de-risk innovation and protect his bottom line.

“On the conservation side, what we try to do is make sure that we’re doing the best economically we can, because if we run out of money, we don’t get to play the game,” he says. “We can’t do a lot of the big experiences and trials, so we try practices out one at a time, like we might take a half section and do it and see what it works out.”

“And I think that’s our conservation journey -- seeing what works and what we can utilize on our farm.”

R.L. Lankford Farms manages diversified production including a Red Angus herd of cattle, year-round grain crops including wheat, canola, peas, lentils, chickpeas, flax and barley.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement )

One lever that he’s used to accomplish that pragmatism is funding and technical assistance from USDA-NRCS .

In states like Montana, USDA-NRCS deploys Tribal Conservationists to tackle the unique land and management issues that tribes face.

Michael Kinsey, one of those tribal conservationists for Lankford’s area, uses his expertise to match a producer’s unique conservation goals to both funding and technical assistance opportunities within the federal agency.

“Like any big goal, there are several small steps that need to be taken to reach planned conservation outcomes,” said Kinsey. “We can help interested producers get started with smaller projects to test technology, different management strategies, incorporate traditional ecological knowledge and new conservation practices while building on what they already do.”

For Lankford, that looked like using the popular Conservation Stewardship Program to gain access to both guidance and funding to innovate use of existing technology. It wasn’t a silver bullet, but it was incentive enough for him to take the leap.

“We did variable rate fertilizer through the CSP, and it didn’t cover my cost of buying the tractor and buying the drill that did variable rate, but it gave me the motivation to expand our existing technology,” he says. “We did that on probably about 15% of our acres, and they helped me write a prescription.”

Fighting for Security

Lankford has seen what happens when there is no safety net for farmers. In 2024, he took national steps to start breaking down the barrier that agriculture’s intense amount of risk poses. His four-year term on the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) Board of Directors puts him at the center of the conversation around federal crop insurance administered by USDA.

“Our margins are so tight, and the risk is so great that we’re putting our whole lives into it,” he says. “I think that’s something other industries don’t understand—that there’s no safety net for us year to year.”

“We need that crop insurance to take as a marketability tool to our bankers and borrow money.”

Lankford has some very specific goals with his work in that space, which include protections for his fellow farmers against shallow losses as much as the catastrophic ones.

“Catastrophic insurance is a one-year fix to get your machinery lined up for the auction,” he says. “That’s not the fix. I think the fix for me is, how do we insure those shallow losses?”

“Because as a producer, I would rather pay a premium every year and not have any help, because that means I’m doing things right.”

Fighting for Family

Lankford is now in his forties, with six children who are into the normal things, such as basketball.

In your 40s, sometimes you take a hard look at your priorities. So, he went looking for a tool to help him tip the work-life scales more in his favor.

Now, when he leaves the farm in the hands of family and employees, oversight is readily available in the palm of his hands, courtesy of tractors with Starlink gauges.

“When I’m coaching junior high girls’ basketball, I can look at my phone and see if they are in the right field, applying the right things and if it’s timely and on-point,” he says.

He’s not the only one that is leveraging tools like precision ag technology to capture efficiency and work-life balance.

“Precision agricultural technologies afford farmers the opportunity to be more efficient through increased insights into their operation that assist and speed up the decision- making process while also bringing that precision into the field through the more precise placement of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides,” says Austin Gellings, senior director of agricultural services at Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), an organization that regularly publishes insights into equipment integration and adoption.

“This leads to less passes, less stops and, overall, more time.”

Lankford uses precision technology and Star Link internet on his equipment to capture efficiency on-farm, which allows him to manage labor even when he is off-farm.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement )

For Lankford, that extra time in his day is time that he can spend with his family.

“That gives me the ability to live a life off the farm too.”

In his thirties, Lankford says he missed a lot of life. When he was off-farm, he was constantly worried about production. Now, though, he’s able to not only leave the farm for his family, but he can prioritize responsibilities that maximize his skills.

“And that’s one of the things that I see technology doing for me is giving me a way to say I don’t have to be married to the machine.”

Icing on that cake, for Lankford, is the ROI that his technology is unlocking.

“I need to make sure I am maximizing the capabilities of my equipment all the time and I think the technology is doing that,” he says. “It’s taking the operator error out of it so I can more closely pencil and get a better baseline of ROI.”

Gellings believes that the benefits of technology can reach all the way to the bottom line.

“In total, the increased efficiencies that an operation can realize through the use of precision ag technologies can often lead to less overall inputs with increased productivity, helping to both reduce cost and increase overall profits.”

Fighting for Legacy

In his tractor is when Lankford really starts to add up his ammunition and consider if it really is enough for him to leave the farm and the industry better for the next generation.

Is he doing enough?

He has a son and daughters coming up behind him, quicker than he’d like, and the work that he is doing today has stakes higher than they ever have before.

“There are times where I’m running this machine and we’re cutting 200-bushel and I think, ‘Man, it don’t get any better than this,’” he says. “But I’ve also ran this machine and cut seven bushel and thought, ‘Oh man, are my kids going to have what they need?’”

The stress is real. And Lankford knows that he’s not the only one who feels the tightness in the chest sometimes. He works with the Veterans Farmer Coalition to help ensure that his peers have the support they need.

But, that starts at home, so he’s working on taking care of his own mental health. He’s getting out of the sprayer more. He built a heated shop with an office that, critically, has a door. When things get tough, he shuts the door, leaves the building, leans on his kids, his wife or his church.

Because his kids need him to create an operation that they can take over someday. But, they also need a dad.

“It’s no better reward than working with your dad, I’ll tell you that right now,” he says. “There’s, not a person in your life that wants you to succeed more than your father.”

“I have that same feeling for my son -- that I want him to succeed.”

“If he wants to come back, he can come back,” he says. “But I want him to have the ability to say ‘I’m marketable--I can do anything I want to do, and if it happens to be farming, I’m going to be excellent.’”

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is a public/private collaborative that meets growers across the country where they are on their conservation journey and empowers their next step with technical assistance from USDA-NRCS and innovation solutions and resources from agriculture’s leading providers. Learn more at americasconservationagmovement.com .

From Despair to Hope: Why a Farmer on the Brink of Suicide Chose to Keep Going

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:41:22 GMT

It’s starting to feel similar to the 1980s. Not only are farmers on the brink of financial collapse, but there’s another grim reality setting in: The number of farmers dying by suicide is on the rise, and it could be at a rate U.S. agriculture hasn’t seen since the 1980s.

Even though statistics on suicides among farmers aren’t reliable from the 1980s because many were deemed “accidents” during that time, some estimates point to more than 1,000 farmers dying by suicide during that crisis.

“Unfortunately, it just almost seems like it’s a pandemic situation. I mean, there’s a lot of it, and it’s sad,” says Brent Foreman, a farmer in Shelby County, Mo., who knows the impacts of farmer suicides all too well.

“From an agricultural perspective, there’s a lot of stress in this industry, especially now,” Foreman says. “And somebody that’s contemplating this. I would say, we as farmers, we like to try to fix things, and we’re pretty good at it, but you can’t fix everything. If you get to a point like that, please reach out to someone, a family member, a good friend. Just please try to get some help.”

Touched By Suicide Three Times

Foreman isn’t just a fellow farmer concerned about the number of farmer suicides today. He’s a life-long farmer who’s been impacted by farmers dying by suicide three times, and the first loss happened when he was just 12 years old.

“My grandfather was a wonderful man, the most important male figure in my life,” Foreman says. “It happened 54 years ago, and it leaves a heck of a hole in your heart still today.”

Sixteen years later, his younger brother died by suicide, another sudden and tragic loss where there were no signs something was wrong.

“And then just a little over two years ago, my brother-in-law, who was 68, took his life,” Foreman says. “I’m telling you, it’s a devastating thing for loved ones to have to go through. It is tough. It’s really tough.”

Foreman says with his brother-in-law, there were signs he was struggling. He tried to take his life one time, but didn’t succeed. That’s when the family tried to get him help, which he agreed to, even going in for treatment.

“We thought that things were getting better, but they weren’t,” Foreman says. “At the beginning, I consulted our preacher, and I said: ‘I need some prayer and I need some advice.’ And he said: ‘Well, I do want to tell you something. I want you to be able to be prepared if you fail. Can you handle that?’ And I said: ‘Well, what I can’t handle is if I don’t try. I have to try.’

Experiencing three suicides, all by loved ones he was extremely close to, has been devastating. Foreman says the emotions are still raw today.

“It’s tough to live with, going through that so many times,” he says. “When I was a youngster I always told myself, the hurt, that’s something I would never do to anyone else. I just made like a pact with myself that I would never do that, because I’ve seen and lived firsthand how it affects you. From a family’s perspective, the pain goes on and on; it doesn’t quit. My wife, from her perspective, I can just see it in her eyes almost daily, the devastation.”

‘When We Lose Hope, It’s a Dangerous Place to Be’

When a person loses hope, that’s when the situation turns bleak.

“Sadly, that is the end all for a lot of people,” Jolie Foreman, executive director at Shelby County Cares , says. “Hope is key. If you have hope, you can keep going. When you lose hope, it’s just a very dangerous place to be.”

Lafayette County, Mo., farmer Ethan Daehler has been there.

“It was actually 2019 was kind of my low point,” he says.

Just six years ago, this Missouri farmer hit rock bottom.

“I was pretty much just down in the dumps, ready to just give up on life,” he says. “Thank the Lord something happened that kind of changed my way of thinking.”

In his early 30s, Ethan Daehler knows what it’s like to be on the verge of suicide. In 2019, he hit a low point. But something saved him, and he hopes by sharing his story, he will reach other farmers in a similar state of mind, reminding them that life is worth living.

(Ethan Daehler, Missouri Farmer )

Battling ongoing pain from an accident and stress of work, as well as struggles with the dynamics of a family farm, it all compounded the issue and pushed Daehler to a breaking point.

“I had a full-time job at the time working for another farmer and trying to do my own small operation,” he says. “We had family issues, which happens to a lot of farmers. There is a lot that compounds into thoughts, it’s just not financial problems, and I think that’s what people need to understand.

Daehler is now proof that it’s worth finding a reason to live, and he is only sharing his story to possibly save someone who’s in a similar spot as he was in 2019.

“There’s more to life,” he says. “I’m in a tractor now, baling hay, this is my fourth cutting. This is what I kind of dreamed of. Find something you love doing.”

A Mission to Prevent Farmer Suicides

That pain is something that fueled his daughter-in-law’s work. Jolie Foreman is the executive director at Shelby County Cares , a nonprofit whose goal is to improve the quality of life for children, youth and adults.

“I knew that we were very resource poor,” Jolie says. “So when I heard that this opportunity was available, we jumped on it, and we’ve just grown from the bottom up. We are definitely grassroots. They had faith in us in what our vision was, and they invested in it.

Through a grant,Jolie’s initial focus wasn’t suicide, but as she started doing research, she discovered there was a desperate need to provide help.

“My family had been impacted by suicide, and that’s kind of why I had jumped on board in the beginning,” she says. “But once we sat down at the table and really started to dive into the names and being in a small town, we know all of those lives that have been lost to suicide up here, that the producer was the one that was struggling.”

Fall Typically Heightens the Stress and Struggles

Jolie says they are currently seeing an increase in the number of farmer suicides happening across the country. Some of that is due to the various stresses involved with farming, but she says the fall is typically when the number of suicides in agriculture rises even more.

“In the spring, there’s a lot of hope,” Jolie says. “You’re planting, you’re coming off of the year that may have been good, may have been bad, but there’s always hope in the spring. And come September, I think the stark reality starts to set in either the pricing and the yields.”

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month , and when it comes to agriculture the facts are startling. Farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. The suicide rate among male farmers, ranchers and ag managers is 43.7 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the National Rural Health Association.

The mounting financial pressures unfolding across the agricultural economy are adding another layer to an industry that already faces one of the highest rates of suicide compared to any other profession.

“Suicide is one of those things that’s hard to put on a scale,” Jolie says. “I mean we know the lives we’ve lost. We unfortunately can’t see the lives that we’ve saved, but I do know from talking to the local ambulance district that the calls have definitely increased; 988 is a huge resource here, and those calls have gone up and increased exponentially. And just through conversations I know that that rural agricultural piece is pressing behind it.”

She says one of the most startling discoveries she’s made during her research and work is the desensitization to death among farmers. She says through various conversations, it’s a reality that’s sad but true.

It’s Not Just Financial Stress That Causes Strains on Farmers’ Mental Health

Jolie says it’s not just financial stress that causes these struggles. It’s also the fact farming comes with many stresses, and for the most part, many farmers are so isolated and might not have access to adequate healthcare.

AgriSafe says if you’re a farmer, rancher, or farmworker, you already know that your work can expose you to a variety of hazards. They believe that with proper education and access to knowledgeable health professionals, farmers can live a long, healthy, and productive life.

(The Total Farmer Health Model, AgriSafe)

According to AgriSafe’s Total Farmer Health , the financial factor is one that can compound mental health struggles, but there are other factors that lead to the risks of farmer suicides including:

Weather
Sleep
Cognition
Social
Diet
Hazards
Spirituality
Healthcare
Fitness

Signs to Watch

And for family and friends, there are signs to watch out for, including neglect of the farm or ranch or even an individual who makes a big financial moves.

“Financial moves are also huge, which is why we’ve talked to attorneys, and we also talked to the financial providers like different banks,” Jolie says. “Are they moving their money? Are they giving away prize possessions? Are they changing their wills? Are they creating a sudden will? We just want to give those resources the tools that they need just to be like, ’Are you okay?’

Daehler says his message for someone in a dark place is you’re not alone. That message is something the Foremans also wants farmers to know.

“I want them to know that we care. I want to know they feed and fuel the world, but if their bucket is empty, they can’t pour into others,” Jolie says. “It’s OK to not be OK, to talk about it, to reach out, to ask your neighbor, to not afraid if you do see something or change in behavior or more isolation. Don’t be afraid to have that conversation. And there are a lot of people that care.”

Suicide Prevent Hotlines

It’s important to remember no matter where you are, there is help. 988 is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline .

And for farmers, there is a specific farmer crisis hotline you can call that is toll-free at 866.586.6746.

The American Farm Bureau also has a Farm State of Mind campaign which builds awareness to reduce stigma and provides access to information and resources that promote farmer and rancher mental health wellness. You can visit that list of resources here .

A Silent Truth Hidden in the Farm Economy: Farmer Suicides Are on the Rise

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 13:40:23 GMT

Signs of stress in the farm economy are everywhere you turn, and with corn futures hitting fresh lows again this week, crumbling commodity prices are painting a dreary outlook for 2025, and the financial pressures are causing another bleak reality: farmer suicides are also on the rise.

In 2024, used equipment prices were plummeting at auction, with values of larger horsepower tractors dropping more than 20% . As used equipment flooded the auction market, Alex Kerr, owner of Kerr Auction and Kerr Equipment , noticed another troubling trend.

“This is really odd for me,” Kerr said in a video he posted to social media last year. “Three tractors up here that I bought on auction, and I’m not going to tell you which ones, but they came off of suicide — the reason is that the farmers are no longer here. It’s the reason I’ve got the tractors.”

Kerr noticed the silent truth happening in the midst of the current downturn in the farm economy, which was the fact he was seeing an uptick in the amount of equipment coming to auction as a result of farmer suicide.

“If anybody needs to talk, call your friends, call us. We don’t need to sell you anything. I don’t want to buy more tractors this way,” Kerr went on to say in the video.

Kerr says he typically doesn’t know all the stories behind the tractors he sells, especially if it’s a consignment auction. As an auction company and used equipment dealer, his focus is on the numbers. But at this particular auction, he was compelled to do something.

“I noticed at one point after I had bought some stuff, and I had it all sitting on my lot together advertised for sale. I’m lining this stuff up, and it just kind of hit me. I’m like, ‘What happened to these guys to get them to a point they wanted to do that rather than continue on?’ I’m lining up those tractors, and I thought about it for a while and turned around and made the video,” Kerr says.

While there aren’t any stats on the exact number of farmer suicides happening across the U.S ., according to a CDC study published in January 2020, farmers are among the most likely to die by suicide, in comparison to other occupations. And with 259 farm bankruptcies filed between April 2024 and March 2025, it’s clear the financial stress on farms is only growing more severe this year.

“In most cases, if it’s a financial problem, the stereotypical answer people will tell you is, ‘Oh, keep your head up. It’ll get better.’ Well, if its a financial thing, the odds are it’s not going to get better. If you just keep digging the same hole, it only gets worse. So, you need to stop and make changes in your life or your business,” Kerr says.

Kerr’s video ultimately reached Bridgette Readel , a retired agronomist who is bringing more awareness to mental health among farmers through her social media following on X (formerly Twitter).

“To be honest, I got Alex’s video sent to me by a mutual friend — a farmer from Wisconsin. Alex had listened to one of the Twitter chats that I do on Fridays and heard the discussion which had been about farmer suicide, depression and anxiety,” Readel says. “Alex never wanted to step in front of the limelight, but he could see a trend, particularly in the geography where he works. And he wanted to do something just to raise a little bit of awareness.”

She says Kerr’s video struck a chord because not only was it bringing awareness to a topic not often discussed, but other farmers could relate to it.

“So many folks could recognize themselves in it: ‘That’s my same tractor’ or ‘I have thought about these very same thoughts or problems. How do I get away from them?’” Readel says. “For those who are closer to my age and remember what the ‘80s were like, there were a lot of farm ‘accidents’ that weren’t accidents. And now it’s a fear of what if myself, my neighbor, my brother, my sister or someone else is that next person?”

Agriculture is full of doers. If farmers see a problem, they immediately want to fix it. But when it comes to mental health, it’s not an easy fix — and not one that can be resolved on your own.

That’s why Readel says there’s one main message farmers need to hear right now: it’s okay to not be okay, but you have to ask for help.

“My message to farmers is to remember that you’re not alone, and when you see something with one of your friends or neighbors, ask them. Don’t be afraid. You don’t have to be a professional at it. You can help them find a professional, but sometimes it’s as simple as sitting in the buddy seat and asking how they’re doing. They might not answer you the first time, so ask it the second time,” she says.

As AgWeb reported in 2024, it’s important the friends, family, and business professionals close to farmers are prepared and able to effectively communicate in a mental health crisis. You can read more in this story, Your Mental Health Toolbox: How To Recognize The Warning Signs.

In the U.S., you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor.

Fusing The Best of Regenerative Ag and Smart Farming: Senator Marshall’s Take on MAHA

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 14:22:10 GMT

Having grown up as a Kansas fifth generation farm kid and spending many years as a physician, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, R-Kan., views the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda through a different lens than many of his Beltway colleagues.

“I delivered a baby every day for some 25 years in my hometown,” Marshall says. “And certainly, diet and nutrition are so, so, so important. When I came to Congress, this was one of the things I wanted to address. And I want to start by saying there’s no MAHA without American agriculture leadership.”

RELATED: MAHA Report’s Surprising Stance on Glyphosate, Atrazine Explained

While much of the recent reporting around MAHA focuses on unpacking the movement’s outwardly anti-pesticide bent , Marshall has fashioned his own, more conventional ag-friendly version covering four distinct pillars:

Increase American agricultural efficiency
Grow healthier, nutrient rich food
Unlock affordable health care access for millions of Americans
Focus on health care resources to combat the mental health epidemic

“I believe soil health leads to healthy food, which leads to healthy people,” Marshall says. “I hear the MAHA group and I hear the ag folks. I have a foot in each of those worlds, and I am trying to bring them together. Because guess what? American agriculture wants healthy children just as much as anybody.”

RELATED: Decode MAHA’s Potential Effect on the Agriculture Sector

Marshall believes MAHA can achieve that goal by embracing some – but not all – of the regenerative ag principles Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., espoused on the campaign trail. American farmers are already reducing chemical use with tools like selective spraying systems and mechanical weeding implements, but the senator knows there’s still meat on that bone. He views it less as a return to “40 acres and a mule” and more as a combination of pieces and parts from the regenerative ag playbook with precision ag technology generously sprinkled into the mix.

“Regenerative ag should be centered around precision ag and growing more with less,” he says. “We’re already using 60% less fertilizers and less pesticides. I think we must continue to decrease the amount of fertilizers and pesticides, so there’s less residue on that loaf of bread in the grocery store.”

Marshall is currently rallying Congressional support for the bipartisan Plant Biostimulant Act. This yet-to-be-ratified farm policy would streamline the FDA approval process under FIFRA for new, novel and natural modes of action. But the senator emphasizes the program must remain voluntary.

“About 5% of the farm bill is conservation practices,” he says. “So, I would streamline the FDA process and allow these biostimulants to be one of the options. It’s not a subsidy, though. I just want to make the regulatory process easier. And that’s going to make it more affordable, as well.”

More MAHA: 250-Plus Ag Groups Ask Trump Administration To ‘Correct’ MAHA Commission’s ‘Activities’

Another goal is for the American producer to embrace best-in-class crop production and sustainability practices. The Kansas senator points to one example from his home state as the creative and nimble thinking he wants to see American farmers embrace.

“We have a group of sorghum growers that have their own mill,” Marshall says. “And they’re selling that flour directly to the infant formula (companies) as well as to European markets. The EU has higher standards, so to speak, than America does, and so be it. I don’t know if they’re necessary, but I don’t make the rules. These Kansas farmers have cracked the code and they’re getting a premium for their sorghum right now, and all it takes is a little extra effort.”

Your Next Read: Can Pulse Crops Double Acreage by 2030? The Push to Include More Pulses in the MAHA Movement

Three Proven, Post-Planting Practices to Use In Corn

Tue, 27 May 2025 15:49:26 GMT

As farmers finish planting their 2025 corn and pull planters out of the final field, David Hula encourages them to get right back out there and start assessing the crop and making plans on how to manage it.

“I know we keep talking about the planter and the planting process, but the information we learn now can tell us how we’re going to progress forward the rest of the season,” he says.
Hula knows what he’s talking about. The Charles City, Va., farmer has set the world corn yield record five times, including in 2023 with a yield of 623.8439 bu. per acre (bpa). He has captured top honors in the NCGA contest 12 times.

Preserve Corn Yield Potential
Fellow yield champion Randy Dowdy often tells farmers there is only one direction corn yield potential goes once you open a bag of seed. “It only goes downhill from there,” says Dowdy, a Valdosta, Ga., corn grower. “It’s why we need to have plan every season, so we can save all the yield potential we possibly can.”

Hula says saving yield potential is more important than ever, given commodity prices this year.

“This is not the year to be spending money on a poor crop, so go see where you have a good, uniform stand – whether it’s corn or soybeans – and then we can start thinking about what we’re going to do next,” he says.

Three things to do now, Hula and Dowdy say:

1. Dig up some corn plants in multiple parts of each field and evaluate them.

Look for whether the seed was planted uniformly (preferably at 2”) across the field. This is important because uniform planting helps promote uniform emergence and picket-fence stands – factors that influence corn growth and productivity all season long.

“It’s painful to look at a grower and tell them ‘Don’t push for higher yields in this crop because the planting process wasn’t done well’ – that they didn’t get that box checked,” Dowdy says. “Likewise, it’s so encouraging when I can look at a grower and say, ‘You know what, I want this kind of result in my field. You’ve got more yield opportunity here.’”

If the practice of digging up corn plants for evaluation is new to you, consider buying a square-bottom spade, advises Paul Yoder, Pioneer field agronomist. He says a square- bottom spade helps farmers visually see emergence issues that would be difficult to reveal with a trowel digging from the top down.

Yoder offers a brief visual guide here to help growers get a feel for the practice.

2. Evaluate the direction corn plant roots are going.
If there’s no obstruction — no compaction and no density layer for them to deal with — corn roots will grow down as long as they have access to water and oxygen.

However, if the roots hit an obstruction, they will turn and grow horizontally, or sideways.

“When we’re turning a lot of roots, that puts limitations on the crop,” explains Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

When roots turn and grow sideways, the corn plant will be unable to effectively absorb nutrients and moisture that might be deeper in the soil profile as summer progresses. This results in less productive plants that are vulnerable to pests, disease and standability issues.

Corn root examination is a fundamental part of understanding the crop’s potential so you can make informed management decisions, Hula adds.

3. Establish or update your yield goal for each field, so you know where to invest limited resources.

Not every field deserves the same level of investment, Dowdy and Hula contend.

“Sometimes you drive by a field and think, ‘hey, this crop looks good.’ But then you go out and dig up some plants. It might be a situation where, ‘hey, fellas, stop spending money on this crop.’ The opposite is true, too. This is the year to make sure you’re investing in your good fields,” Hula says.

For example, if you typically side-dress in corn, consider whether you want to raise your yield goal, keep it the same or even lower it – depending on what the crop is telling you, by field. If you opt to raise yield goals, make sure you adjust N rates accordingly.

Dowdy and Hula encourage growers to pull tissue samples to help dial-in their crop’s nutritional status and yield potential.

Dowdy talked more about what farmers can do to influence corn yields with AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Monday here .

Pre-Tassel Crop Tours Are Underway
During this final week of May, Hula and Dowdy are hosting a series of pre-tassel on-farm crop tours with customers who participate in their program, Total Acre.

“People get to see firsthand what David looks for in a corn crop and hear what he believes can influence that crop,” Dowdy says. “At whatever point we’re at in a field, we’re willing to share our insights and information.”

The two yield champs encourage anyone interested in learning more about growing high-yield corn to come join them. The schedule is available here .

Check out Tyne Morgan’s latest interview with Hula and Dowdy on the “U.S. Farm Report:"

Your next read: Add 75+ Bushels Of Corn Per Acre With Better Closing Wheel Performance

Feeling Stuck? Ask Yourself These 4 Questions

Wed, 21 May 2025 19:51:43 GMT

Everybody’s been stuck at some point in their life. Maybe you’ve felt stuck about knowing how to move forward in your career. Maybe you’ve felt stuck between two people’s different opinions. Maybe you’ve felt stuck because you are trying to do too many things at once. Maybe you’ve just felt stuck because you are tired or angry or frustrated.

“What happens when you’re on fire?” asks Kacee Bohle, founder and CEO at AGRIMINDS . “You stop, drop and roll. That’s the first thing that I advise when you feel stuck. Let’s stop and see what’s actually going on, then we can go forward from there.”

Feeling Stuck is Normal
Bohle says being stuck is a normal situation people find themselves in. To get unstuck, take a 360-degree evaluation of your reality. What’s actually going on? What’s the root of why you’re feeling the way that you are right now?

Although there isn’t one magical way to get unstuck, Bohle suggests it starts by looking inside.

“It’s going to be different for everybody, and it really depends on all the other factors you have going into this as well,” she says. “For example, what season of life are you in? Who else is involved in your decision making? What can you actually do right now? What resources are available to you? It’s just not this cookie cutter answer where I can say, if you’re stuck, do this thing and you’re a feel all better. That’s just not reality.”

But everyone can sit back and evaluate what’s going on in their life a little more. Bohle uses a Japanese concept called ikigai to get her started.

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that translates to ‘a reason for being’ or ‘a reason to get up in the morning.’ Bohle says it’s essentially about finding what gives your life purpose, meaning and joy.

The four questions are simple ways to get yourself thinking, she says. They include:

Am I doing stuff that I love?
Am I doing stuff that I’m good at?
Am I able to get paid for it?
Does the world need what I have?

Finding a healthy balance leads to a more fulfilled life, Bohle says. But sometimes, it’s not possible to do any of those things.

“Sometimes we’re leaning really heavy in one of those areas and not even touching the other three,” she explains. “But if you know what your center could be – if you know what to get back to or what you’re working towards – it’s a lot easier to know what your next step is going to be.”

Action Creates Clarity
So, then what? Bohle says if you’re not sure what your next step is, just start doing something.

“If it feels aligned, keep doing more of that,” she says. “If it doesn’t, then shift gears and pivot into something else. Start dipping your toes into different areas.”

This can look like many things from making a big decision to make a career move to volunteering in your community. For others, it can look like having conversations and meeting new people to get that spark back, she says.

“Take small steps toward feeling something positive. The more that you do that, the more clarity you’re going to get,” Bohle says.

Do Something Unpredictable
It’s easy to get analysis paralysis when you feel stuck.

“I am a big thinker,” she says. “Sometimes I overthink it to death to the point I have considered every possible solution, and now I’m still stuck and don’t know what to do. You must do something, and that something is going to tell you whether this was the right move or not. But at least you’re doing the process of elimination, and realizing that’s the thing I shouldn’t be doing.”

In one of Bohle’s favorite shows, Covert Affairs, a spy shared that the best spy advice she ever received was to “be unpredictable.”

“I’ve always loved that advice,” Bohle says. “Don’t be ordinary. Change your routines. Do something people wouldn’t expect you to do. When you start doing stuff differently, it changes something inside of you.”

From taking a different road home than you typically do to ordering something new the next time you go to a restaurant, she says breaking out of routine can help you get unstuck.

Stop Spinning
Everything that we know or believe has either been caught or taught, Bohle says.

“If you think about our industry and who we’ve learned from, who we’ve been around, we’ve probably been influenced by them and conditioned by them,” she explains. “It takes a conscious effort to change what we’ve been taught.”

Bohle believes there’s been a lack of knowledge about available resources.

“When I think back to my professional career, and even my education, I don’t recall anybody sharing that with me,” she says. “It wasn’t until I sought out these resources that I came across them. I think there’s a lack of knowledge about how many resources exist to support you in whatever thing that you’re dealing with.”

She also says there’s a fear that it may not work, will hurt someone’s feelings or inconvenience others.

“It’s one of those endless cycles,” Bohle says. “We’re stuck spinning, spinning, spinning, and we don’t know how to get out of the whirlwind, which is why it’s so important to communicate with either your trusted circle or a professional. It can be as simple as raising your hand and saying, ‘I need some help.’”

Your Next Read: Don’t Ignore the Nudge: Why Listening Matters More Than You Think

Be A Good Neighbor: Check In and Watch for Signs of Stress

Thu, 01 May 2025 16:56:58 GMT

The pressure of farming and ranching today is real. The stress of managing a farm or ranch during challenging or not so challenging times can weigh heavily on an individual’s mental health.

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. from Kansas has shared his concern about the mental health of farmers and ranchers. During the recent Top Producer Conference hosted by Farm Journal, Marshall encouraged the audience to be good neighbors and look out for signs of depression, such as changes in appearance, sleep patterns or social withdrawal.

“We think about the farm-related accidents that we grew up trying to prevent,” he recalls. “This a bigger danger, a bigger risk. I just want to encourage farmers and ranchers to realize some of the signs and symptoms of depression.”

Marshall shared these tips for being a good neighbor and supporting the mental health of fellow farmers and ranchers. Look for these signs or symptoms of depression:
- Trouble sleeping at night and not being able to get back to sleep
- Giving away possessions or buying more life insurance
- Changes in appearance, like not shaving or combing their hair
- Withdrawing from social activities they used to participate in

He encouraged producers to reach out to friends and neighbors who might be struggling.

“Reach out to that neighbor of yours,” he says. “Be a good neighbor and say, ‘Hey, let’s go grab a cup of coffee and maybe a cinnamon roll.’”

Marshall says it is important to leverage your networks and connections in the community and look out for one another. He also encourages producers to recognize the resources available beyond just calling the 988 mental health hotline, such as local community health centers, which can provide support without the stigma of going to a mental health facility.

Marshall’s call to action is to be proactive, recognize the signs and then provide compassionate support to their friends, neighbors and fellow farmers who could be struggling with mental health challenges. Marshall emphasized the importance of the community looking out for one another during these difficult times.

Mental Health Resources

Your Next Read: The Time Is Now: Let’s Prepare Before ‘It’ Hits

30 Minutes With Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins In Her First Week On the Job

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:12:47 GMT

Since Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 , Brooke Rollins has been focused on how to build the teams and the plans that impact the trajectory of agriculture and rural America. On that day, while en route with her husband and four teenagers in their motor home to Auburn, Ala., for the Texas A&M football game, she got a call from now President Donald Trump. The purpose of his call: She was his top choice to fill his final significant cabinet position, Secretary of Agriculture.

Obviously, she had to wait for confirmation, which came last week on Feb.13 when the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed her as the 33^rd Secretary of Agriculture , but since that Saturday before Thanksgiving, she’s been on the go with an accelerated enthusiasm to understand the significant challenges facing rural communities that lost 147,000 family farms between 2017 and 2022 and why the cost of inputs are up 30% as exports are down $37 billion this year and likely to fall further in the months to come.

“This is a crisis, and this is something that I understand inherently,” Rollins said to kick off Top Producer Summit in Kansas City on Tuesday. “My promise to you is this, and my commitment will never waver, that every minute of every day for the next four years I will do everything within my power, with hopefully God’s hand on all of us and our work, to ensure we are not just entering the golden age for America, as my boss, President Trump, likes to say, but we are entering the golden age for agriculture.”

What Has Rollins Been Up to the Past Four Years?
Secretary Rollins and President Trump have worked together for almost eight years. She was in the West Wing with him for years two, three and four of his first term running his domestic policy agenda.

“This real estate guy from New York City brought that vision to life, and then in the last term, was able to really do some remarkable things,” Rollins said in regard to President Trump returning power to the people who just want a chance at the American dream. “I call it the great pause, the four years in between term one and term two. But I think the great pause allowed very intentional planning. It allowed a courageous and bold leader in President Trump to become a fearless leader and to do everything he can to bring America back to greatness.”

In the “dark days of January 2021,” as she described, Secretary Rollins helped launch the America First Policy Institute, a think tank established by former Trump officials to promote conservative policies. The idea was that those policies that made America great in Trump’s first term would continue indefinitely, not just for a second term, but for four years, eight years or 36 years, Rollins described.

First Week On the Job
Since being confirmed last week, Secretary Rollins has been in the Washington, D.C., USDA office for a few hours, but most of her time has been spent in Kentucky at National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville and Gallrein Farms and in Kansas visiting Finney’s County Feeder, High Plains Ponderosa Dairy and the National Beef Packing Plant .

Describing herself as “a reader and a studier,” Rollins seems adamant to hear firsthand from farmers and ranchers. She referenced her visits to the dairy farm and National Beef facility as inspiring, in a good way but also in a way that helps her understand the real challenges at hand.

Speaking to the crowd at Top Producer Summit, she shared her appreciation for the “entrepreneurial American game changers” who are doing their part to feed the world.

“It is so inspiring and a reminder of the very beginning of our country.” Rollins said. “Our revolution was fought by farmers, our Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. The backbone of the great American experiment is this community.”

Thank you @topproducermag for hosting @RogerMarshallMD and me in Kansas City, Missouri, with 1,000 of the Top Producers from across the US to talk about issues like expanding trade access and cutting regulatory red tape for farmers.

Biden’s ZERO trade deals and inflationary… pic.twitter.com/ejMxKxkRMG
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) February 19, 2025

Farmer Q&A
Watch and listen to what Secretary Rollins, as well as Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, had to say on stage at Top Producer Summit about these 7 topics:

Trade and tariffs — “ Let’s go barnstorm the world , and let’s go find some more trade partners and access [to market opportunities],” Rollins said.
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts and modernizing USDA — “DOGE is a very valid and important effort across all government. The stories of waste and abuse were really just, not USDA specific but across government, beginning,” Rollins said.
Federal programs, such as CSP and EQIP — “Our commitment is that if there have been commitments made, those will be honored. Getting our arms around all of that right now is really, really, important. Again, going back to the President’s heart and commitment to our farmers, I feel confident we will be able to solve any issues that are in front of our ag community, that are potentially being compromised by the DOGE effort, while at the same time recognizing how very, very important it is,” Rollins said.
Future of USDA — “There’s no question USDA needs some modernization. I’m just beginning to lean into that as well,” Rollins said. USDA has 106,000 employees and 29 departments. “The Secretary is taking over a department where only 6% of the [D.C.] people work in the office,” Marshall added.
Renewable fuels — Prior to President Trump’s first term, he was “the first major candidate to support biofuels, and I think that carried him through Iowa in many ways. … We’ve got E15 year-round. I think that gives us some certainty as well. … The President is supporting that. I think we’re trying to figure out how to save 45Z, but we can’t let China benefit from it. Right now, China is benefiting more from [45Z] than my farmers and ranchers are, so we’ve got to fix that,” Marshall says.
Immigration policies and availability of long-term labor — “I have a full-bodied understanding of the challenges within the labor market, and I believe the President does too. … I believe that we will very soon be talking about it again. Clearly, the H-2A program needs significant reform, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, she’s going through the [confirmation] process right now. … Hopefully she’ll get her vote very soon. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Rollins said.
Trump’s cabinet members — “Our cabinet is comprised of people that have been working together and have been friends and colleagues for years, with a few exceptions. Bobby Kennedy is a new friend, but Lee Zeldin and I worked together in America First Works and America First Policy Institute for the last almost four years, Linda McMahon in education and John Brooks — these are our people,” Rollins said.

How a Missouri Rancher and Military Veteran Is Bridging Gaps for Vets and Ag Producers

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 19:55:39 GMT

Patrick Montgomery says he “likes a fight,” an attitude that served him well during his years serving on combat missions in the U.S. military. It’s also a pretty handy frame of mind for a rancher in today’s challenging ag economy, especially someone leading two other related businesses. In 2016, Patrick started K.C. Cattle Company, a direct-to-consumer beef operation selling what he produces on his 420-acre ranch, where he has roughly 200 pure-bred, wagyu cow-calf pairs.

The business struggled along until, in 2019, Food & Wine magazine declared his gourmet hot dogs the best in the world. “We were down to the last three thousand dollars we had to our name the week before that happened,” Patrick recalls on the latest episode of Farm Journal’s Grow Getters podcast. “That’s what put us on the map. We went from shipping 20 orders a week to having 12,000 roll in overnight.”

During the pandemic in 2020, when grocery store shelves couldn’t offer shoppers a steady supply of protein, K.C. Cattle Company flourished. However, a couple of years later, with input costs skyrocketing, he found himself in a new battle, one he wasn’t sure he could win. “Like many on the beef cattle side, we were taking it on the chin,” he says. “I figured I could either quit and shut down K.C. Cattle Company or I could go fight. And that’s where the idea for Valor Provisions came from. It was really out of desperation.”

Structured like a co-operative, Valor Provisions, founded in November 2024, brings together multiple protein producers in a single marketplace, to which consumers pay a one-time, lifetime “steakholder” fee for membership. The producers participating in Valor Provisions are all military veterans. The website explains that the mission is “to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with America’s hardworking farmers and veterans, providing a marketplace that honors their dedication and the quality of their work.”

Patrick sees a parallel between military service and ag production — with one percent of the population providing a vital service for the other ninety-nine. “And there’s such a disconnect between them,” he says. Through his companies, he wants to bridge the gap between producers and consumers and to bridge the gap for returning veterans between their military experience and everyday life.

“What I tell vets is that you can either choose to use the situation for good or bad,” he says. “I did both, but eventually it turned into this, which I hope is something that gives people hope past service.”

Watch the full Grow Getters interview

Visit the K.C. Cattle Company website: https://kccattlecompany.com

Visit the Valor Provisions website: https://valorprovisions.us

Fight Those Winter Blues with Sunlight and Fresh Air

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 15:49:20 GMT

The holiday rush is over, and many people will experience a touch of the winter blues over the next couple of months.

“It’s not uncommon in the general public for us to struggle with some level of sadness or an ‘I need to get through the season’ mindset,” said Danyelle Kuss, educator and multi-county specialist for Oklahoma State University Extension in Oklahoma County.

She explained someone who has seasonal affective disorder and a person who generally experiences a lower mood through the winter season are distinctly different.

“SAD is a major depressive disorder with a subtype for seasonal patterns, triggered by a seasonal onset,” Kuss said. “Our circadian rhythms start changing, which can disrupt our internal clocks and increase feelings of depression.”

The causes of SAD are unknown, but she said other factors that influence it include a decline in serotonin when exposed to less sunlight and an increase in melatonin, a chemical the human body creates to sleep.

“Winter is a time when people isolate more, they’re indoors more and they do less of the things that normally make them feel better. Depression feeds on these situations,” Kuss said.

Young adults aged 18 to 30 report the highest rate of SAD, while children and older adults experience fewer symptoms. Major signs of depression that impact daily functions like not being able to get out of bed or calling in sick to work indicate the need for professional support.

“It might not just be normal sadness during the holidays or winter months,” Kuss said. “A person might need to talk to a therapist or doctor and discuss what adjustments they can make. I always look at how a condition impacts somebody’s ability to function as a big distinction.”

For those with milder cases of the winter blues, Kuss suggests creating a plan of daily or weekly lifestyle tips that can improve mood long-term:

Bundle up and go outside for at least 15 to 30 minutes of daily sunlight and exercise.
Stick to or develop a healthy routine of sleep, movement and eating nutritious foods.
Be consistent with medication if taking any for depression.
Limit or avoid alcohol, as it is a depressant and can worsen symptoms.
Stay connected to a support system – make plans and stick to them. Follow through with commitments.
Be kind to yourself and others. Practice self-care.

To help with depressive symptoms or seasonal blues, Kuss said people may have to work against their instincts that tell them to stay inside and alone.

“I might not feel like going outside for a walk in the cold sunshine or getting out of my warm pajamas to go to a friend’s house, but if I can manage that initial discomfort, I will feel better on the other side of taking those actions,” she said.

A fun way she advises people to combat seasonal depression is to ride the holiday wave by continuing to meet up with family and friends.

“Weekly get-togethers can help us during those tough times of the month and require us to look at what does and doesn’t work for us,” she said.

Your Next Read: Stress, Social Support and Mental Health for Men and Women Farmers

Making Purchases for 2025: All You Can Do Is Your Best!

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 01:46:56 GMT

It was a crisp, cool day in late February many years ago when I stepped into my Wichita newsroom for our morning editorial meeting. I tied my tie and sat sipping a cup of coffee listening to the overnight police reports when my cell phone rang. The caller breathlessly explained a deal had been struck to sell the city’s largest employer. As the aviation beat reporter at the time, I rushed to grab my bag and headed for the door.

The importance of the story was high, and it became the lead story in every newscast that day. The stress of a 12-hour shift and the pace required to gather interviews, write, edit and report was overwhelming. Of course, this wasn’t new. It’s relatively common in a profession where every single day starts at zero. Farmers generally know the tasks awaiting them based on the timing and rhythm of the season. The news is new every day.

Panic On Pause

As I sat there frantically waiting for my editor to pull together our story knowing we had just minutes until the top of the newscast, I finally hit the end of the rope. I was doing my very best, and if that wasn’t good enough, so be it. From that point forward, those words have steadied my nerves and quieted anxieties about work. All I can do is my best. There is no such thing as going 110%. It’s a lie we tell ourselves to try and wring one more ounce of effort from our tired minds or bodies.

Purposeful Pursuits

I recently received what could be called providential affirmation of this mantra in the form of a fortune cookie. The non-fortune fortune written clearly, “Your best is enough.”

It made me pause and think about my work and the work of our nation’s farmers. I’ve never met a single person pursuing their passions half-heartedly. As you go through this harvest season and begin to make purposeful purchasing plans for 2025, be sure to take a deep breath and remember your best is enough.

As long as it’s truly your best, it’s all you can do.

Your Next Read: How One Farmer Turned the 1980s Disaster Into Enduring Success

Double Trouble from Flooding and H5N1 hits Some Iowa Farms

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 13:17:15 GMT

Active flooding is still underway in parts of Iowa due to the more than 15 inches of rain that fell on parts of the state, particularly the northwest region, over the weekend, according to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.

“There were folks literally being rescued off of rooftops and flown out of the flooded areas,” Naig told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Tuesday. “After a couple of days, we will be able to come in and start to get a sense of what the enormity of what’s happened is and the size of the impact on the ag landscape.”

The devastation led to a disaster proclamation from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the evacuation of thousands of Iowa residents from the area.

Naig said when he talked with Reynolds early Tuesday morning, she described the damage from the rains and flooding as “extensive.” The flooding is still underway, with rivers in north-central Iowa now starting to crest, according to the National Water Prediction Service.

Naig said state officials won’t have a full sense of the crop damage or number of livestock lost in the region until the flood waters recede.

“This was already a wet part of the state, where there were some challenges around planting and replanting. They’ve just been inundated with rain throughout the spring,” Naig said.

“What we’re hearing about, certainly, is damaged and destroyed equipment. There are livestock facilities that folks are having trouble getting feed to because of washed-out roads, and there are power outages and water outages. These are just some of the things that are really challenging.”

Added Stress On Dairies
For dairy producers in northwest Iowa, the floods arrived on top of challenges they already faced from dealing with cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) or efforts to prevent the occurrence of the disease.

“Unfortunately, a lot of our cases are in dairies up in that area,” Naig said. “Think of the added stress that those folks are experiencing right now.”

Naig said, in total, Iowa has confirmed 11 dairies and three poultry sites where H5N1 has been found.

“Don’t be surprised if you continue to hear about some additional cases in the state of Iowa, because here’s the point – we’re looking for it,” Naig said. “Our farmers are testing. Turns out, when you look for it, you can find it. I think this is a little wider spread than maybe what is just being confirmed.”

Naig said he commends the Iowa dairy industry for being proactive in reporting any positive cases. When cases are confirmed, he said the state can bring in a USDA epidemiological strike team to look for clues to how H5N1 is being transmitted.

“If we’re going to experience the pain of having positive cases, let’s learn as much as we can, so that we can craft biosecurity strategies to address those things that are found to be the cause of transmission,” he said.

Wide Range Of Symptoms And Outcomes
Naig added that the scope of H5N1 infections has varied between farms as well as in individual animals.

“I think maybe early on, folks said, ‘Oh, it’s really just a kind of a minimal milk production loss, and then everything gets back to normal.’ I don’t think it’s quite that way,” he said. “Some (producers) aren’t seeing clinical signs while others see acute infections and significant milk losses. We are also hearing about some cattle mortality, though it’s maybe because of a secondary infection or condition that actually causes that mortality.”

Naig told Flory he has asked USDA to provide compensation for animals that Iowa producers have had to cull or where death occurred.

“We continue to make that request because we are seeing some losses, but that’s still a work in progress,” he said. “And, of course, again, we’re trying to get research on the ground to determine how H5N1 is behaving. The other thing is we can’t treat this as a dairy disease. It is a dairy and a poultry issue. We’ve got to think about the larger livestock industry. That’s how we’re approaching it here.”

The conversation between Naig and Flory is available in its entirety below:

A Tale Of Two Crops: Farmers Struggle Against Flooding And Drought

Goodbye, El Niño. Hello, La Niña? The Big Transition to La Niña is Already Underway

Mental Health in Rural America: Prioritize Self Care, Focus on What You CAN Control, and Take a Deep Breath

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 14:41:36 GMT

As national Mental Health Awareness Month (5/1-5/31) comes to a close, Farm Journal reached out to a leading mental health expert to ask about specific recommendations tailored to farmers and rural Americans who may be struggling with mental health issues.

Colleen Marshall, head of clinical care, Two Chairs, spoke with us about how farmers and their friends and families can better manage their mental health. Two Chairs is a mental health startup offering in-person and virtual therapy services throughout California, Florida, and Washington.

You can learn more about Two Chairs here: https://www.twochairs.com/

Farm Journal (FJ): Farmers experience heightened stress and anxiety when compared to other occupations according to recent studies from the CDC. What are some useful strategies to combat stress and anxiety?

Colleen Marshall (CM): There are ways to manage these feelings and improve your mental health. The key is to try different strategies and find what works best for you.

Here are some common methods to consider:

Practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, or yoga.
Stay physically active with regular exercise.
Connect with others through social support networks, like friends and family.
Prioritize self-care by getting enough sleep, eating well, and taking breaks when needed.
Focus on things you enjoy like hobbies or passions.
Focus on your thoughts, what are you grateful for, what brings you joy?
Seek professional help from a therapist or counselor if needed.

Remember, managing stress and anxiety is an ongoing process. Don’t hesitate to try new tactics or seek support when needed. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health.

FJ: Financial issues are often cited as the top stressor for farmers. Yet commodity prices and extreme weather have a direct impact on financial outcomes but are completely out of the farmers’ control. How should one deal with stressors that are completely out of their control?

CM: Acceptance is key. Accepting that there are things outside of our control and not focusing our energy on those areas can help. Instead, it’s important to get clear about what is in our control so we can focus on those areas. One thing we can always control is our response to a situation, even if we can’t control the situation itself.

By accepting what we can’t control and focusing on what we can, we can reduce stress and anxiety. So, take a deep breath, accept what you can’t change, and focus on what you can.

FJ: According to recent statistics, more than 60% of rural Americans reside in areas with a shortage of mental health providers. Are there remote/virtual resources available to farmers?

CM: Teletherapy is a more accessible and easier option for therapy than in person care. It removes barriers like transportation and additional travel time. Research is even showing that teletherapy is as effective as in person care. There are lots of providers that now offer teletherapy.

Start by reaching out to your primary care doctor, insurance company or local mental health authority. You can also contact the NAMI HelpLine to find out what services and supports are available in your community. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

FJ: What are some warning signs that a farmer should recognize as needing to be addressed by a mental health professional?

CM: Common signs of mental illness in adults and adolescents can include the following:

Excessive worrying or fear
Feeling excessively sad or low
Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
Avoiding friends and social activities
Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
Changes in sex drive
Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don’t exist in objective reality)
Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or anosognosia)
Overuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
Thinking about suicide
Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance

FJ: How do we encourage farmers to reach out for help?

CM: Most adults will experience struggles in their lifetime. We all need support from each other at some point. Know that you are human and being human means we have wins and struggles and we are social creatures that need each other. Asking for help can feel hard but it is normal and common for all of us. Think about who is someone you trust that can help you get the help you need.

One way to think about that is what does help look like for you? What is actually helpful? Maybe it is asking someone to come with you to your next doctor’s appointment to help you explain what you are experiencing, or maybe it is someone that has had a similar experience that can share what helped them. Maybe it is calling someone you don’t know like your insurance providers or your local Mental Health support center or NAMI to have a trainer person help you decide what support and help works best for you.

Stop the “If Only This Would Happen” Game Now

Tue, 07 May 2024 21:09:35 GMT

You need to do what you need to do to make your life better. Is it really that simple? Ted Matthews, a mental health practitioner with Rural Minnesota Mental Health Support , told AgriTalk’s Chip Flory that far too many people hear mental health and immediately think mental illness.

For many farmers that Matthews talks to, it’s “not that bad.” Farmers say they can handle the stress, Matthews says. This works until it doesn’t.

“We’re constantly pressured into this concept that it has to get to a certain point before we take care of ourselves,” Matthews explains. “And that’s absolutely stupid.”

Instead, farmers need to take care of themselves now, so they don’t have to worry about going down that road later.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Not only is it a time to address the challenges faced by millions of Americans living with mental health conditions, but it’s also a reminder to take care of your mental health.

“Everybody’s different,” Matthews says. What drives one farmer crazy may not phase another farmer at all. He encourages people to take a step back when stress sets in and evaluate what’s under their control and what’s not.

“We can’t control the water. We can’t control the sun. We can’t control a lot of different things,” he says. “But we can focus on the things we can control. That will give us enough energy to get those things done. Far too often I see people get so wrapped up in all the things that they can’t do, that they end up not doing the things they can do because they’re so stressed.

Knowledge, however, doesn’t always result in the stress going away.

“Just because I know something, doesn’t mean I’m not going to get stressed,” he explains. “That’s something that we always need to look at. I always tell people, be nice. Take care of yourself. Do what you need to do to make your life better.”

Click here to download the eBook “Your Guide to Mental Health.”

Matthews says if you want to be more supportive of a farmer, say, “It must be really hard,” and let them tell you how they’re feeling about it. Don’t tell them what they should feel. Let them tell you what they do feel.

Everyone is always racing around like they’re at the Indy 500, he adds.

“I’m not saying it’s not important to get the crop in, but if you can take an extra half hour to have a cup of coffee, take an extra 10 minutes to talk to your wife or your kids or both, it will help,” Matthews says. “Take care of that end so it does not become an overwhelming stressor.”

Remember that your thoughts matter. When stress sets in, ask yourself these questions:
-What can I do to make life better?
-How can I listen better?
-How can I take care of myself better?
-How can I look at my mental health in a way that says, ‘I’m feeling better, and if I’m not, I’m responsible to make myself feel better.’

It’s time to stop waiting on others to step in, he adds.

“If only they would do this. If this happened, then I would (fill in the blank),” Matthews says. “Stop thinking those thoughts because we have no control over them. Focus on the things you do have control over, and you’re going to be a healthier person.”

Read More:

Mental Health on the Farm: One Swine Production Manager’s Story

5 Ways to Work Through Difficult Times

By Her Own Hand: A Farm Girl’s Miraculous Journey from Death to Hope

Pay Attention to Warning Signs of Stress

Lack of Understanding Leads to Loneliness in Farmers

Toxic Grit: Is Our Greatest Strength Our Greatest Weakness on the Farm?

Stress: Action is Key

Farmers, Ranchers Have Ways to Manage Stress

Suicide Prevention: Your Worth Isn’t Measured By The Markets

Don’t Let Social Distancing Lead to Social Isolation

Connect With Farmers In-Person On Mental Health

Simple, Daily Habits to Help Manage Stress

Pay Attention to Warning Signs of Stress

When Your Trampoline Breaks: Avoid Isolation

7 Steps to Reduce Farm and Financial Stress

How and Why to Laugh, Even When it’s Hard

Watch for Signs of Suicidal Risk on Your Farm

Farm Aid Ramps Up Mental Health Resources to Help Farmers

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 22:27:32 GMT

Mental health support services are hard to find in rural areas. Did you know that 90 million people live in designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas? About 4,000 to 6,000 new mental health professionals are needed to fill that gap nationwide, Farm Aid says in a release.

To further complicate this, farmers are struggling with a 50% decrease in net farm income since 2013 and the incidence of farmer stress is reaching a high point. In 2018, the predicted median net farm income is a loss of $1,300, and prices are not expected to rise in the near future. Meanwhile, production expenses and interest rates are increasing, putting family farmers in a predicament.

The Farm Aid hotline was established to connect farmers with operators who are familiar with agriculture and with resources for farmers around the country. Staff refer farmers to an extensive network of farm and rural support organizations across the country, including many specific to mental health services. Farm Aid’s Hotline Team has direct and intimate knowledge of what it means to be a farmer in the U.S. today.

“Today, mental health support services — both professional and church- and community-based — are less available and accessible in rural areas than they were in the 1980s, due to factors such as fewer people attending church, fewer community-building events in which people can interact/establish relationships in rural areas, and a decrease in overall population among rural areas,” Farm Aid explained.

Farm Aid hotline operators work with hotline callers to find the best resources for their individual situation, whether they are looking for assistance with farm stress, financial issues, legal questions or business-related questions.

“In general, rural residents have higher rates of depression, substance abuse and completed suicide. However, farmers face additional challenges to maintaining their mental health,” Farm Aid said.

Mental health professionals point to the nature of farming as one likely cause — it is a business largely influenced by factors that are beyond farmers’ control, including weather, disease, pests, prices and interest rates, and which can come and go without warning. Farmers can be isolated, geographically and socially, since they often work alone.

“Farmers are self-reliant, independent and can be unlikely to ask for help. Many come from a tradition of not sharing their challenges, choosing instead to tough them out on their own,” Farm Aid said. “They work long, hard days and may deprioritize their own health and well-being to get the job done. Stress as a concept may often be seen by farmers as something that urban office dwellers experience.”

Farming itself is unique, and many clinicians don’t “get it,” the release points out. Farmers cannot be advised to take a vacation or search for a less stressful job.

“Farmers feel a tremendous weight at the possible loss of their land, the possibility that they could be the one to lose something that has been in their family for generations. Their role as a farmer is at the root of their identity; it’s their culture, not just a job,” Farm Aid said.

Beginning and established farmers and farmworkers are encouraged to call the Farmer Hotline at 800-FARM-AID (800-327-6243). The Farm Aid Hotline staff has an existing database of Spanish resources and they are working to expand this database even further. Learn more at farmaid.org .

Read More:

Join the Conversation Around Mental Health: You Just Might Save a Life

How to Lighten Your Load When Stress Piles Up

By Her Own Hand: A Farm Girl’s Miraculous Journey from Death to Hope

When Stress Goes Beyond Normal

Why Mental Health Matters on the Farm

How Long Will You Carry Those Rocks? A Guide to Mental Health

5 Ways to Work Through Difficult Times

Mental Health on the Farm: One Swine Production Manager’s Story

Don’t Doubt Your Purpose When You Find Yourself in a Weird Spot

Your Mental Health Toolbox: How To Recognize The Warning Signs

Your Mental Health Toolbox: How To Recognize The Warning Signs

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 22:28:17 GMT

Working in agriculture isn’t easy, and factors such as commodity prices, weather and family dynamics often weigh heavily on those involved.

It’s important the friends, family, and business professionals close to farmers are prepared to recognize warning signs and effectively communicate in a mental health crisis. PennState Extension shares several tips to help.

What To Look For
Some of the ways increased stress presents itself is through physical changes such as headaches or frequent illness, loss of the person’s sense of humor, change in routine, isolation or the feeling that they can’t do anything right.

In farmers specifically, this could look like a decline in the care of livestock and the farmstead’s appearance, no longer stopping by the coffee shop in the morning to chat with friends, or giving up something they were previously passionate about such as volunteering as a 4-H leader.

Prolonged symptoms take a toll on a person’s body and can have long-term effects like high blood pressure and diabetes.

Extension experts also say increased stress has the ability to make farmers more accident prone and could lead to an uptick in the number of accidents or injuries around the operation.

How To Approach The Conversation
If you notice these changes in a customer, friend or family member, the way you approach them about the topic matters. Simply asking them how they’re doing will probably elicit a response similar to “I’m fine.”

PennState Extension advises using active listening during this conversation to help the person feel comfortable sharing more about what’s going on and understand that you care.

For example, if they brush off your initial question of concern, encourage them to elaborate by saying, “I’ve noticed you seem down. Is there anything on your mind?”. Restate and paraphrase what they’ve shared with you periodically, so they know you’re interested and listening. This also gives them a chance to correct anything you’ve misunderstood and give more context if necessary. You could say, “It sounds like you’re thinking/feeling X. Is that right?”

Focus on listening, rather than what you’re going to say next and make sure to give them adequate time to speak before you jump in.

Extension experts also recommend talking to the person with empathy, rather than sympathy, even if you don’t have personal experience with what they’re going through.

Phrases To Help Convey Empathy:
• I know of several farms in similar situations.
• Every situation is a little different. Help me understand better.
• I don’t know what to say, but I’m so glad you told me.
• I can see this situation is hard for you. What changes would you like to see?
• I’m eager to help. What are some things I could do for you?

Try to avoid saying things like, “at least X didn’t happen” or “at least you still have X”.

Next Steps
Make sure you check back in with the person, whether you told them you would or not, and don’t promise things you can’t commit to.

If the situation becomes urgent, ask if you can call a family member or for help. Local, state and national resources are available.

New Ways To Address Healthcare Issues Are Needed For Rural Americans

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 14:36:27 GMT

It’s no secret the rural U.S. healthcare system faces ongoing pressures from financial struggles and labor shortages. Rural hospitals, in particular, have been hit by the shortages, according to Carrie Cochran-MacClain, chief policy officer for the National Rural Health Association (NRHA).

“We are raising a stink out here in Washington about what we’re seeing in terms of the status of our rural hospitals,” Cochran-MacClain says. “We know that coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of hospitals really took a hit during that time. They did everything they could to provide services to the people in their communities, and now they’re struggling, and we’re continuing to see closures.”

Since 2005, 104 rural hospitals have closed. An additional 600 rural hospitals — 30% of all rural hospitals in the U.S. — are at risk of closing in the near future, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.

In response, Cochran-MacClain says one stop-gap measure Congress has enacted now is the development of rural emergency hospitals (REH), a Medicare provider designation established through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

New Methods Of Care

REHs are meant to reinforce access to outpatient medical services and reduce health disparities in rural areas that are unlikely to be able to sustain a traditional, full-service hospital. Today, there are about 18 such facilities across the U.S.

“It’s a great model that’s keeping a level of (medical care) access in rural settings, and that’s fantastic,” she told Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk, on Monday.

“But I think our perspective is, in addition, we hate to see hospitals closing their in-patient units, because they can’t afford to keep them open and are being forced to turn to this model,” Cochran-MacClain adds. “We want to make sure those facilities that are in rural communities and want to keep their inpatient care are able to do that.”

Achieving that goal – and continuing to provide rural Americans with healthcare options – will require addressing the costs and labor issues, she told Flory.

“We have to do more to make sure that we’re training (medical) folks from rural areas, that we’re recruiting folks to rural areas, and really investing in that workforce,” she says.

Reimbursement rates to rural hospitals also need to be addressed. Many rural hospitals struggle to maintain financial viability under traditional Medicare payment models.

“When we moved to the way that we pay hospitals now, called prospective payment rates, those rates were not made for small, low-volume facilities,” Cochran-MacClain says. “So, we continue to really need some adjustments to the way we are paying for health care in rural areas. And that’s what we’re trying to do with a whole slew of proposals in Washington.”

The rural healthcare discussion between Cochhran-MacClain and Flory is available here.

More Funding Resources Needed

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced in late 2023 some of the steps underway to help rural communities keep access to local healthcare available to residents. These include:

Funding to rural providers to join value-based care initiatives. Medicare’s largest value-based care program, the Medicare Shared Savings Program, encourages providers to collaborate to provide coordinated, high-quality care to people with Medicare by forming or joining Accountable Care Organizations.

Grants to rural hospitals and communities to provide health care services. HHS has several grant opportunities to support rural communities, including $28 million to provide direct health services and expand infrastructure and $16 million to provide technical assistance to rural hospitals facing financial distress.

Developing and investing in the nursing workforce. Nurses play a critical role in primary care, mental health care and maternal health care, particularly in rural areas. HHS has announced more than $100 million in awards to address the increasing demand for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and nurse faculty nationwide.

Expanding access to services provided via telehealth. During the first year of the Covid pandemic, Medicare telehealth visits increased 63-fold, especially benefiting patients in rural communities. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is extending many of the Medicare telehealth flexibilities that were provided during the Covid pandemic through December 31, 2024.

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Don’t Doubt Your Purpose When You Find Yourself in a Weird Spot