National Health Outreach and Engagement Conference 2024

Authors:  Anna Scheyett and Jude Edeh


INTRODUCTION: Farmers, who struggle with high suicide rates and other stressors, frequently face financial difficulties as well as stigma regarding talking about stress. Extension services can provide farmer stress education, but discussing stress without also addressing financial stressors discounts the realities of farmers’ lives. This study explores the financial information/skills farmers say they need to manage their farms and thus decrease stress. These findings are essential for the development of integrated and acceptable Extension programming that meets farmers needs for stress management and financial information/skills.
 METHOD: Collaborating with experts (Extension, agricultural economists, commodity leaders) we generate a list of essential financial topics/skills and developed a survey with 3-point Likert scales (0=not helpful, 1=a little helpful 2= very helpful information that will reduce farmer stress) for each topic. Data were collected at two state commodity conferences (N=310), analyzed using descriptive and associative statistics. Respondents were evenly distributed between genders; primarily White (90.7%); and primarily farmers (55.9%), or in farming-related industries (44.1%).
 RESULTS:  All topics were rated as “very helpful” by over 60% of respondents. Most frequently endorsed were information on programs to help farmers after disaster (79.4%); government programs to help farmers financially (78.1%); retirement (68.4%); taxes (68.4%); managing debt (68.1%); crop/farm insurance (68.1%). No significant differences were seen between farmer and farm-industry responses.
 CONCLUSIONS:  Understanding the financial information/skills farmers need for success and wellbeing is paramount for Extension. By providing financial information/skills in combination with stress-management education, Extension can implement effective, acceptable programming to reduce farmer stress and improve wellbeing.