Clark County UW-Extension Talks Struggling Farmers
Saturday, March 16th, 2019 -- 9:07 AM
-With low milk prices, the President’s trade/tariff battles and our brutal Wisconsin winter, our farmers are struggling.A recent Farm Stress Summit was held at Michigan State in January and two Clark County UW-Extension Office employees attend the conference. Nancy Vance, Family Living Agent, and Melissa Kono, CNRED Agent, discussed what they learned from the summit. Nancy said they were provided information regarding signs of stress in farmers.
Nancy: “One of the activities was for people to reflect on how they recognize stress within themselves. And so they categorized it under how stress affects your body and then how stress affects your thoughts and feelings because it does affect your thinking process. If you’ve ever been under stress sometimes, you’re not thinking real clearly. And then how does it affect your behavior.”
“And so the first thing was just helping people recognize that everybody deals with stress a little differently. And so, you might not realize somebody is under stress because they behave differently then you do under stress. And so one of the activities was to identify how you deal with stress and the next step was what are some of those coping techniques that you de when you’re feeling that stress like take a walk or listen to music. So that was very helpful for people to think about.”
“The workshop was geared towards two audiences. There was one for people that work for farmers like ag lenders, professional veterinary people and others that come in contact with them and then there was simpler version that was really geared towards farmers to actually come in and understand the stress they’re under. But mental health, specifically, for that group of people that have been under stress for years.”
Melissa: “And coupled with that, farmers traditionally have not always had health insurance nor have had access to regular healthcare. There’s not a lot of mental health counselors located in rural areas. So, it’s really the perfect storm of a lack of access to care and then being able to afford care for people who find themselves in a mental health crisis. There’s really not a lot of local resources.”
Melissa and Nancy talked about people farmers can reach out to if they’re feeling suicidal or depressed.
Melissa: “A doctor, someone’s regular healthcare provider. A pastor or a counselor. There is a National Suicide Hotline for those who are feeling suicidal or those just feeling depressed and not like themselves. There’s resources there too. But I think that people don’t feel that they know what they’re supposed to do and they’re afraid that they’ll say something to make it worse, so they don’t say anything. Just living in a rural area, people are naturally more isolated. So, when people are isolated and feeling depressed, it’s just a culmination. So, to leave that person alone is the absolute worst thing you can do.”
Nancy also explained social support systems.
Nancy: “They also talked about social support systems and how important it is to look after each other. If you have a group of people that socialize with and, all of sudden, someone is not showing up or they’re just no there anymore, you can see the importance of that connection as well.”
Melissa: “I’m really concerned about farmers right now. Because, not only are we going through a time of financial crisis for farms, but the winter is particularly hard on farmers. They’re far more isolated. They’re not out there doing what they love and there’s just not a lot of opportunities for socialization for them in the winter months. They’re already feeling down and that additional isolation can make someone feel worse. And then coupled with this awful winter that we’ve had and the problems stemming from that whether it be collapse of buildings or animals being lost, it’s just this constant culmination of things that are happening. It’s the perfect storm. I was worried about them before, but I’m very worried about them now.”
If you’re a farmer struggling during these hard times, please reach out to the Wisconsin Farm Center at 1-800-942-2474 or [email protected].
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.