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Mental preparation ahead of a stressful planting season
Farmers are encouraged to include mental health resources when packing their toolbox for spring planting.
Josie Rudolphi, professor of ag safety and health at the University of Illinois, tells Brownfield it has been a couple of stressful growing seasons for farmers and the hits keep on coming.
“In the last two weeks we have definitely seen political disruptions that will undoubtedly have an impact on the way we continue to operate in the US. We have seen fuel prices skyrocket, we have seen high input prices for a while now, and there is no indication that those are going to come down in the near future.”
She says as farmers gear up for planting by preparing inputs and equipment, they can also stock up on mental health resources and ways to cope with spring stress.
“That might mean participating in one of U of I Extension’s Mental Health First Aid courses that we offer around the state at no charge to teach people how to identify signs of stress and mental health conditions in themselves and others so you can be an interventionist in your community. That can also mean simply having phone lines and websites available for yourself or to pass out to your friends and families. One website I recommend is www.farmstress.org where there are over 100 different farm specific stress management and mental health resources.”
Brownfield interviewed Rudolphi at the University of Illinois Ag Tech Innovation Summit.