Ag advocates say more open conversations on mental health are changing the culture in the industry, and it’s needed with depression affecting one in five farmers.
Jason Meadows is a Missouri cow/calf producer and host of the Ag State of Mind podcast which works to break stigmas on mental health in agriculture. He says many in the ag community are unwilling to admit they’re struggling because it’s viewed as a weakness.
“The opposite is actually true, when we do open up and are able to admit that we have problems and admit that we do have faults, we can come together and bond over that.”
Ag mental health specialist and Illinois farm wife Adrienne DeSutter recommends finding friends off the farm to share with because as she says, life does exist beyond farming.
