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Farm Bureau's Farm State of Mind Unveils New Resource for Weathering the Storm

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Farm State of Mind Rural Stress

Chad Smith

Associate News Service Editor, NAFB

photo credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / CC BY 2.0

Chad Smith

Associate News Service Editor, NAFB

The challenges facing farmers and ranchers can take a toll on mental health and well-being. Chad Smith has more on how to weather the storm.

Smith: The American Farm Bureau Federation’s Farm State of Mind initiative helps provide access to information and resources that promote farmer and rancher mental health and wellness. Farm State of Mind is rolling out a new resource based on six steps that helped Davis Peeler, a farmer from South Carolina.
Peeler: Nourish, move, unplug, pause, connect and share. The most important of the six is sharing. You've got to share with your doctor or share with a counselor to be able to get the ball moving in your life to change.
Smith: He said these simple steps helped him weather a storm in his own life about ten years ago.
Peeler: The stress, anxiety-inflicted heart attack was on the rise, that my doctor had told me that I wasn’t going to live to see 40. Today, I’m 70 pounds lighter, I've learned how to cope with anxiety, and not be on anxiety medicine anymore. These six things can make such a huge impact in your life, also.
Smith: Peeler said the difficulties facing farmers and ranchers can seem impossible, but it’s okay not to be okay.
Peeler: The importance for the American farmer to feed this country, to be there for his family, it’s so important to try to make a change, to be better, to be healthier. Call or text 988 for free counseling or help, or visit 988lifeline.org.
Smith: For more information on Farm State of Mind resources available through Farm Bureau, visit farmstateofmind.org. Chad Smith, Washington.

To download the Farm State of Mind Checklist: Weathering the storm, click here.

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