Farming can be one of the most mentally exhausting careers. Let’s face it, the markets and weather are unpredictable, and we place our hopes and dreams on prayer and hard work. Sometimes as farmers we have to eat the red at the end of a fiscal year, hoping that the next year will have a better outcome. It doesn’t matter if your growing cotton or milking cows; you could be heading in a successful crop year and then something happens and the market turns upside down.
Everything terrible can happen at once, and then boom, you’re close to or out of business. This is an extremely exhausting concept to understand. Not only is the financial side mentally straining, but so is the physical side. Most farmers don’t take a whole lot of vacations, and some don’t even take a day off. While this is respectable in many ways, because we know hard work pays off, it can also put strain on mental and physical health.
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, farming is associated with increased levels of anxiety and depression, and studies show that farmer suicide rates are two to five times higher than the national average. This is a huge deal. Farming consists of long hours of isolation and economic uncertainty. Studies show long hours of isolation can increase depression and psychological complications, and when you add the anxiety of not knowing what the markets will do, it creates a heightened stress level that can cause devastating effects on the human body.
I’ve seen on social media several times where they do a skit of a male farmer bringing himself to a hospital or doctor’s office, and everyone goes into panic mode after realizing he is bringing himself in instead of his wife or a family member making him go. This makes light of the fact that many farmers will wrap an injury up in an oil-stained rag and keep moving or not want to talk about mental difficulties they might be having.
Encourage family members, friends, and yourself to take the time needed for relaxation, a vacation, or meditation. This is crucial for a mental refuel, especially in such a stressful lifestyle.
It is extremely important that we put more focus on the mental health in the agriculture sector. These people work to put food on other people’s plates and find passion in growing the most nutritious product that they can, all while feeling the complexity of mental and physical complications that come with this way of life. They have the “thickest of skin” and the “strongest of wills,” but let us not forget that they are just people, and they do feel the stress and anxiety that most others have no idea they are carrying.
It's okay to recognize and get help. If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance, dial 9-8-8 or get in contact with the Farm Family Wellness Alliance or the AgriStress Helpline.
Mark and Caitlin Rodgers are dairy farmers in Dearing, Georgia. The Rodgers have a 400-cow dairy that averages 32,000 pounds of milk. Follow their family farm on Facebook at Hillcrest Farms Inc.