Farm Stress
Farm State of Mind
This Mental Health Awareness Month, remember that a healthy farm or ranch starts with a healthy you. Farmers are experts at checking in on their crops, livestock and equipment, but checking in on your own personal wellbeing is just as important.
This Mental Health Awareness Month, the American Farm Bureau is unveiling a new resource dedicated to helping farmers and ranchers consider how to respond when stress becomes overwhelming and they don’t know what to do. It’s called the Farm State of Mind Checklist: Weathering the Storm.
Farmers and ranchers don’t have to weather the storm alone. For nearly a decade since its inception, the Farm State of Mind initiative has focused on reducing the stigma around mental health and providing tools to help farmers, ranchers and their families.
Farmers and ranchers have it hard right now, and things can easily feel out of control. The Farm State of Mind Checklist: Weathering the Storm is a new resource dedicated to helping farmers and ranchers consider what to do when they don’t know what to do.
The Farm State of Mind Checklist: Weathering the Storm is informed by the experiences of farmers, with suggestions from mental health professionals and outreach specialists. The checklist is meant to be a set of simple actions that farmers, ranchers and even their family members can take to manage overwhelm, prevent burnout and find clarity.
As any farmer or rancher can tell you, farm life can be demanding and stressful. It has reached a critical stage with pandemic impacts on top of natural disasters, extreme weather events, financial pressures due to fluctuating commodity prices, labor shortages, trade disruptions and other factors over the past several years. Given these ongoing challenges, it’s no surprise that more farmers and farm families are experiencing stress and mental health concerns. If you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety, depression or another mental health challenge, you are not alone. Check out the resources on the Farm State of Mind website and follow #FarmStateofMind on social media to show your support. A healthy farm or ranch is nothing without a healthy you.
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