Source: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS submitted to
NORTH CENTRAL FARM AND RANCH STRESS ASSISTANCE CENTER: ENGAGING PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT PRODUCER WELLBEING
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1031647
Grant No.
2023-70028-41284
Cumulative Award Amt.
$2,476,967.00
Proposal No.
2023-08865
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 15, 2023
Project End Date
Sep 14, 2025
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[FRSAN]- Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network
Project Director
Rudolphi, J.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
2001 S. Lincoln Ave.
URBANA,IL 61801
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Agricultural producers throughout the United States (US) are in crisis. Rates of suicide among male producers, including farmers, ranchers, agricultural managers, and workers, are notably higher compared to the general working population. Studies of agricultural producers in the north central region (NCR) suggest the prevalence of depression ranges from 7.4% to 53%, substantially higher than the 6.1% observed among the general US population. An estimated 27% to 71% of agricultural producers in the NCR experience anxiety, which is notably higher than what's reported among the US population (20.7%). Among farmworkers, the prevalence of depression likely exceeds 45%. Furthermore, the rate of heavy alcohol use (i.e., 8+ drinks per week for a woman or 15+ drinks per week for a man) among full-time workers in agriculture is 9.4% compared to 8.7% among all-other full-time workers. Illinois farmers report engaging in recent alcohol use at a higher rate than the general population (74.9% vs. 54.2%).The NCR includes some of the most agriculturally productive states in the US. Importantly, almost 40% of all US agricultural producers operate in the NCR and the region employs over 300,000 farmworkers. Agricultural producers in the NCR experience a myriad of occupational stressors associated with adverse mental health conditions. To provide stress assistance and mental healthcare to NCR farmers, ranchers, their families, farmworkers, and other agricultural workers, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Extension in collaboration with Cooperative Extension Services (CES) from Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and with the Central State Center for Agricultural Safety and Health, National AgrAbility, Progressive Agriculture Foundation, Jewish Farmer Network, Queer Farmer Convergence, and Marbleseed will continue "North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center: Engaging Programs to Support Producer Well-being" . The overall goal of NCFRSAC is to create and expand stress management and mental health resources and services to agricultural producers and workers. The key target audiences for this project include individuals engaged in production agriculture with specific emphasis on producers (across genders, specialty growers, farmworkers), farm families, and allies and supporters of agricultural producers (specifically agribusiness professionals and healthcare providers).Over the project period, the NCFRSAC will achieve four major objectives. First, the NCFRSAC will establish a diverse, regionally representative network of member organizations. Center directors will convene partners from all 12 north central region states. A strength of this proposal is the commitment and participation of 1862 CESs in almost all NCR states. NCR CESs will partner with CS-CASH, National AgrAbility, Progressive Agriculture Foundation, Jewish Farmer Network, Queer Farmer Convergence, and Marbleseed to establish a diverse and regionally representative network of member organizations. These 18 Network Partners will meet monthly as a region. The Center will maintain interest groups of members from across states to address topic or audience specific needs. Finally, some partners will conduct needs assessments to identify emerging stressors and needs of the population.The Center will develop a clearinghouse of farmer assistance programs in the region and maintain the website, www.farmstress.org. The NCFRSAC will educate individuals/teams in the NCR about FRSAN activities and how to access/use existing resources and programs in their work with agricultural producers and communities under stress. Finally, the NCFRSAC will provide a range of services referenced in the legislative authorities which include: training (programs and workshops) for (1) advocates for individuals engaged in agriculture-related occupations; (2) other individuals/entities that may assist individuals who are in agriculture-related occupations or are in crisis; support groups; and outreach services and activities, including dissemination of information and materials.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
80260103020100%
Knowledge Area
802 - Human Development and Family Well-Being;

Subject Of Investigation
6010 - Individuals;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
The proposed objectives build on existing North Central FRSAN efforts without duplicating available resources and activities. The largest programmatic gap in the region is in relation to behavioral health services as some states have had voucher programs enabling agricultural producers to see a therapist or counselor at low- or no-cost.Objective 1: Establish a diverse, regionally representative network of member organizations.Objective 2: Develop a clearinghouse of farmer assistance programs in the region.Objective 3: Educate individuals/teams in the NCR about FRSAN activities and how to access/use existing resources and programs in their work with agricultural producers and communities under stress.Objective 4: Provide a range of services referenced in the legislative authorities which include: (1) training (programs and workshops) for (a) advocates for individuals engaged in agriculture-related occupations; (b) other individuals/entities that may assist individuals who are in agriculture-related occupations or are in crisis; (2) support groups, (3) Outreach services and activities, including dissemination of information and materials.
Project Methods
The proposed objectives and methods of the north central regional farm and ranch stress assistance network include:Objective 1: Establish a diverse, regionally representative network of member organizations.Objective 1 will be achieved by convening key network collaborators. A strength of this proposal is the commitment and participation of 1862 CESs in almost all NCR states. NCR CESs will partner with CS-CASH, National AgrAbility, Progressive Agriculture Foundation, Jewish Farmer Network, Queer Farmer Convergence, and Marbleseed to establish a diverse and regionally representative network of member organizations. These 18 Network Partners will meet monthly as a region. The center will maintain interest groups to address topic or audience specific needs. Interest groups will meet at least twice during the project period. Finally, needs assessments by some partners will gauge evolving needs and concerns among producers and to identify opportunities to engage stakeholders.Objective 2: Develop a clearinghouse of farmer assistance programs in the region.For objective 2, the project team will collect information about existing farmer assistance programs in the region. All network partners will contribute information about existing farmer assistance programs in their states. Activity began in 2020 and will continue throughout the funding period. In addition, the Center will host collected information on a centralized clearinghouse website. Illinois Extension and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will host the clearinghouse website (CHW) under the header "NCR Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center" (www.farmstress.org). The CHW will include region-wide resources, links to network partner websites, and links to other relevant websites and related resources. The CHW will include information about NCR farmer assistance programs and links to research-based information about behavioral health in agricultural context, descriptions of programs offered by network partners, stakeholder resources, and relevant webinars and videos.Objective 3: Educate individuals/teams in the NCR about FRSAN activities and how to access/use existing resources and programs in their work with agricultural producers and communities under stress.To accomplish the goals of objective 3, we will engage with national FRSAN partners to share activities and initiatives related to farm stress and mental health. The NC FRSAC PDs will participate in a national coordination council (NCC) and will meet monthly to discuss activities of the program, progress, outreach, and other relevant and time-sensitive opportunities that arise. The NC FRSAC will also engage with national FRSAN and non-FRSAN partners and stakeholders to share activities and initiatives related to farm stress and mental health. The NC FRSAC PDs will convene one quarterly national outreach meeting. This virtual meeting will be held via Zoom and the following entities will be invited: USDA, state Departments of Agriculture, regional FRSAN leaders and network partners, advocacy groups, Extension, and public agencies. Information about the meeting will be circulated online two months prior to the meeting.Objective 4: Provide a range of services referenced in the legislative authorities which include: (1) training (programs and workshops) for (a) advocates for individuals engaged in agriculture-related occupations; (b) other individuals/entities that may assist individuals who are in agriculture-related occupations or are in crisis; (2) support groups, (3) Outreach services and activities, including dissemination of information and materials.The 18 partners of the NC FRSAC will be engaged in successfully meeting the goals of objective 4. The first sub-objective is to offer Training (programs and workshops) for (1) advocates for individuals engaged in agriculture-related occupations; (2) other individuals/entities that may assist individuals who are in agriculture-related occupations or are in crisis. NCFRSAC plans to offer several training for advocates of producers and those individuals and entities that assist producers, including in crisis situations: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA); MHFA for Spanish Speaking Communities; Question, Persuade; Refer (QPR) as well as Agricultural Literacy for Health Care Providers (ALHCP); Relationships Can Heal: Knowing the Farmer Client (RCH); Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST); Farm Safe Certified (FSC); Certified Farm Succession Coordinator Training; A Changing Way of Life: Ambiguous Loss; and Ag Behavioral Health Training. Pre- and post-evaluation surveys will assess changes in knowledge, attitudes, and skills among participants.CS-CASH will deliver Bienvenido, a 9-week prevention intervention program for farmworkers, designed to (1) increase access to and use of mental health services, (2) reduce alcohol and drug use and other risk factors, and (3) increase immigrants' sense of belonging and participation in the community [24]. Marbleseed will coordinate an online support group for specialty growers/farmers via the Ag Solidarity Network (ASN) Growing Wellness Group, an existing online space for specialty growers.For outreach services, IL, MO, MI, and NE CES will work with nonprofit and healthcare organizations to provide mental health therapies for agricultural producers and their families. MO CES will offer the evidence-based intervention Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR), which is a program tailored to the needs of producers and their families. SPR focuses on strengthening coping skills to manage stress, building resilience, and supporting good behavioral health adjustment in the face of acute and longer-term crises [3]. MI CES will partner with MSU Extension Teletherapy Program to provide online professional counseling to producers in the state. IL CES will work with an existing network of mental health providers to provide counseling services in Illinois.For outreach activities, educational workshops and resources for agricultural producers will include a farm economics program to 200 producers (NE CES), the development and pilot test of a disaster preparedness toolkit (NE CES), a program to reduce stress related to farm labor (WI CES), and a program about farm succession planning (WI CES). These programs will be evaluated using pre and post surveys and evaluations. ND CES will offer Design Your Succession Plan for Farm/Ranch Operations training sessions to agricultural operators and their family members as well as selected farm stress intervention programs, to agricultural workers and other community professionals or citizens supporting agriculture, specifically related to mental health awareness and wellness promotion with farm and ranch populations. The ND CES programs will be evaluated using pre- to post-program surveys to gauge changes in awareness, intentions, and attitudes.NC FRSAC will disseminate information and materials (4E) primarily through the CHW, including a comprehensive listing of NCFRSAC programs, resources, and services and via network partners. CHW will be advertised via social media posts and social media campaigns, CES media outlets, and on the NCFRSAC monthly newsletter and webinars. MO CES will develop public service announcements (PSA) and social media campaigns related to stress and mental health and will include links to the CWH and NCFRSAC resources. Purdue CES will develop publications and one PSA, which will include the phone number for the concern hotline and a link to the CHW. Purdue CES will also record and post five podcasts that will include the phone number for the concern hotline and a link to the CHW. Progressive Agriculture Foundation will create and disseminate resources for farm youth.

Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences for this project are agricultural producers including farmers and ranchers and their family members, farmworkers, and individuals who support agricultural producers and workers. Changes/Problems:There were a few challenges experienced by several partners in the past project year. Many of the evidence-based mental health literacy programs are facilitated by external organizations. Specifically, the National Council manages Mental Health First Aid courses. Requesting and receiving evaluation data from the National Council for MHFA courses is challenging and timely. Similarly, in some states organizations and agencies have funds and/or grants to provide mental health literacy programs, like MHFA and QPR, at no charge resulting in more competition and saturating the market. However, some states have trouble keeping up with requests for MHFA, YMHFA, QPR, and Weathering the Storm programs. Many partners acknowledge their programs meet the needs of a very narrow audience and the need to expand reach into additional producer and worker communities, such as migrant farmworkers and specialty growers. Partners experience some constraints to provide programs to diverse audiences with the existing staff and capacity. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?UNMC and CS-CASH hosted a summer undergraduate research student who assisted with the Bienvenido program. University of Illinois Extension Partners from the NCFRSAC presented findings and program overview at the following conferences: National Latino Behavioral Health Conference, Midwest Regional Agricultural Safety and Health Conference, International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health, In Minnesota, three Extension educators attended the virtual Mindfulness Facilitators Training for 4-H adults. In Michigan, grant staff engaged in professional development and training during the MSU Fall Extension conference, the MSU Health and Nutrition Institute's Spring conference (where topics like Motivational Interviewing were covered), a training on using an Animal Depopulation Resiliency Check-In tool, and other opportunities like AgriSafe webinar trainings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been presented at various conferences (see previous section). In addition, presentations at farmworker-serving organizations and practice-focused conferenceswere conducted by CS-CASH/UNMC. Project directors invited guest lecturers in graduate-level courses (e.g., public health, medicine, nursing, etc.) University of Minnesota presented "A Changing Way of Life: Ambiguous loss and farming" presentation at a breakout session at the 2024 National Health Outreach Conferenceand at a breakout session at the Missouri Extension Health Sciences Conference National AgrAbility Program hosted webinars for communities of interest including Extension, health providers, researchers, and others. Two webinars have been hosted so far this year; "Farm Youth and Stress" and "Agricultural Stress, Resiliency, and Mental Wellness: A Nevada Case Study". These webinars had over 280 registrants. Archived versions of each webinar are posted on the National AgrAbility website at http://www.agrability.org/training-category/archived/ and on the National AgrAbility YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/NationalAgrAbility/. All who register for each webinar receive a link to the archived version once it is posted. The archive is also promoted in the AgrAbility e-Note monthly newsletter. Michigan State University Extension published impact reports online and emailed to subscribers to disseminate an overview of our work to communities of interest (canr.msu.edu/resources/transforming-lives-through-health-nutrition-education; canr.msu.edu/resources/supporting-michigan-s-agriculture-community). The Lead Educator engaged in media opportunities to discuss the project and was featured on the AgriSafe podcast twice, InsideMSU newsletter, newspapers like the Record Eagle and Record Patriot, and many more. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Jewish Farmer Network is on track to have a strong, visible presence at the Midwestern regional agriculture conference February 20-22, 2025 in La Crosse, WI. There our team will host a vibrant Shabbat dinner that offers an opportunity for Jewish farmers to meaningfully connect with each other and the rituals of Shabbat. Iowa State University is working closely with Landus Cooperative, who are interested in training staff in MHFA who directly work with and support their farm clientele. Illinois Extension is working with the Farm Bureau in the state to provide more targeted MHFA program to county and community staff. Illinois will continue to expand their agricultural mental health voucher programs with an emphasis on recruiting providers who can provide services in Spanish and other languages. South Dakota State University will offer "Seminar in Rural Mental Health: Supporting Agricultural Producers' Wellbeing" again in summer 2025. UNMC /CS-CASH will develop multilingual stress, mental health, and cultural healing information for farmworkers and their families, train 10 additional Bienvenido facilitators and 5 additional QPR facilitators from around the region and implement Bienvenido program at 3 sites throughout the region For the next reporting period, the Queer Farmer Network will execute the in-person convergences for queer and trans Black, Indigenous, and Farmers of Color are planned for 2024 with NCFRSAC funding. University of Nebraska Extension's Disaster Preparedness for Farmers and Ranchers: What's in Your Toolbox? Project has been delayed because of the numerous storms that hit the Midwest this spring and summer. Work on this project will take place in the fall and winter of 2024/2025.The delay in receiving the subaward resulted in NE Extension not being able to use the funding for the Farm Economics project. The workshops that took place with this project reaching farm producers happened in the winter of 2024 and funding was not received until spring of 2024. National AgrAbility is scheduled to conduct two more webinars during the 2024-25 grant cycle. Michigan State University Extension will continue supporting the MSU Extension Teletherapy Referral Program, purchase new materials for outreach to Spanish-speaking audiences, conduct farm stress programs, and lead small on-farm meetings on farm succession or managing farm stress.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In the last project year, the NCFRSAC partners delivered evidence-based mental health literacy programming to agricultural supports. Specifically, University of Illinois and Iowa State University Extension delivered Mental Health First Aid and Mental Health First Aid-Spanish to over 320 agricultural supports. Other programs offered included QPR, Youth Mental Health First Aid, and Communicating with Farmers under Stress. University of Illinois Extension, University of Missouri Extension, and North Dakota State University supported professional behavioral health services for farmers, ranchers, their families, and farmworkers. In Illinois, the Illinois Agricultural Mental Health Voucher program provided over 200 hours of professional services to farmers. The Concern Hotline (formerly the Iowa Concern Hotline) received 5,802 total calls.The calls from the North Central Region included those from the following states: 5,124 from Iowa, 187 from Wisconsin, 40 from Michigan, 31 from Illinois, 20 from Nebraska,17 from Kansas, 12 from Minnesota, 5 from Indiana, 5 from Ohio, 5 from Missouri, 3 from South Dakota, and 2 from North Dakota. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach staff were able to provide eleven Mental Health First Aid (adult) classes to agribusinesses, communities, and other farm related populations Iowa. These programs were provided to: Corteva Agriscience employees ; the Maschoff's Pork employees; ISU College of Veterinary Medicine students and staff; four Iowa communities, which included ISU Extension,4-H, and other community members; and one virtual program targeting the Latino agriculture community, provided in collaboration with the University of Nebraska. These 8-hour programs served a total of 212 individuals.After completing MHFA, 100.0% of participants stated there is a high or moderately high likelihood of having a supportive conversation with anyone about mental health or substance use challenges. Purdue Extension developed and piloted Indiana Agriyouth Curriculum in Indiana schools with 6 schools and 125 youth. Over 75% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the program improved their understanding of youth farm stress, of health coping skills, and available mental health resources. Purdue Extension also expanded Tools for Today's Farmer's Podcast with a youth focus: 11 Podcasts released with over 492 plays. University of Wisconsin Extension engaged HMoob farmers in 5 farm management and record keeping programs. In 2024, they held five workshops around the state in four locations: Eau Claire, Madison, La Crosse and Wausau. 154 farmers attended these workshops. This is the first time Extension has offered farm management education through a more sustained and organized effort, which was led by Gaonou Thao, the HMoob farmer outreach specialist for Farm Management. Gaonou is also connecting to HMoob farmers through Facebook and is providing educational videos on pest management. In Nebraska, under the project 33 adults utilized the "Hotline Voucher Program" provided by the Rural Response hotline.Individuals receiving professional mental health were seeking help with the following presenting problems: marital/family, inability to cope with daily activities, alcohol/drug misuse, financial stress, and grief. University of Minnesota delivered "A Changing Way of Life: Ambiguous Loss and Farming" curriculum to 15 University of Missouri Extension educators at the Missouri Extension Health Sciences Conference and to 101 2024 National Health Outreach Conference and the NACAA (National Association of County Agriculture Agents). University of Minnesota Extension taught "Let's Talk About Mental Health - 4-H Healthy Living program". A five-session series designed to provide a safe place for youth to have important conversations about mental health and wellbeing. The series demonstrated to youth that they are valued and welcomed by 4-H and gave all youth the tools to be supportive and effective. University of Nebraska Medical Center / Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) is focusing on serving farmworkers in the north central region. In the past year, the team conducted 2 Mental Health First Aid trainings and 1 QPR training with farmworker serving organizations, implemented the Bienvenido program in one site: (1) Kearney, NE (44 immigrant farmworkers; 42 completed the program), conducted outreach with farmworker-serving organizations through the Nebraska Migrant Farmworker Action Coalition, and provided translation assistance and Spanish language review to North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center partners. South Dakota State University offered "Seminar in Rural Mental Health: Supporting Agricultural Producers' Wellbeing" was offered on July 11 and 12 in Brookings SD. The seminar was offered as continuing education or a one-credit graduate course. Twenty mental health counselors and 13 graduate students in counseling attended the seminar. Information was provided on the dynamics of farm families, status of mental health in agriculture, and the application of systems theory to farm families. A panel of farmers answered questions as well as a panel of Extension personnel. Jewish Farmer Network offered subsidized registration fees to 8 Midwestern Jewish farmers to attend our upcoming national conference. This event is scheduled for mid-December 2024 and will gather 120 Jewish farmers for a weekend of cultural learning and community building. As one applicant shared "Often I feel isolated and siloed in the work that I do - because I am a Jewish woman in the field of agriculture" - this conference, and Jewish Farmer Network's work at large seeks to ameliorate these feelings. The Queer Farmer Network completed the publication and dissemination of the Queer Farmer Convergence Guidebook, which is a free, public resource in book form for future organizers of events for queer farmers. It contains information and experience gathered from 6 years of hosting convergences for LGBTQ+ members of the ag sector, and was distributed to our 2000 network members free of charge. The completion of this project will aid us in propagating new events to support the mental health of queer and marginalized farmers in underserved regions going forward. National AgrAbility's primary task for the 2023 project year of the North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center was to organize, conduct, and evaluate semiannual webinars related to farm stress issues. Each webinar was promoted via multiple channels, including a listserv that currently comprises more than 6,500 email addresses, the monthly AgrAbility e-Note e-newsletter (with current distribution of approximately 390), National AgrAbility's social media pages on Facebook and Twitter, and the Extension Foundation Connect calendar and e-newsletters. Under this project, Michigan State University Extension successfully sustained the MSU Extension Teletherapy Referral Program by maintaining our collaboration with an external professional services contractor. They have continued to facilitate teletherapy services for farmers, ranchers, commercial fishers, and agricultural professionals. Efforts led to 21 individuals being referred to clinical services. They also developed and disseminated an online referral form and printed marketing materials with a QR code linking to the program webpage. University of Missouri Extension facilitated three focus groups to solicit input for Show-Me Strong Farm Families rural mental telehealth counseling from farmers/ranchers and stakeholders and used findings from the focus groups to develop promotional materials for the program.

Publications

  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Rudolphi, J., et al. (2024). "North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center: 2020-2023: Outcomes, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations for the Future." OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 9(2).