Progress 09/15/24 to 09/14/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences for this project are agricultural producers including farmers and ranchers and their family members, agricultural workers, and individuals who support agricultural producers and workers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A workshop was offered by Ohio State Extension as a pilot training, to review three training modules and provide technical critiques of the resources. Twenty professionals with various backgrounds attended the training and provided input. The Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team participated in 15 professional development education sessions focused on youth agricultural mental health topics. These opportunities allowed team members to deepen their understanding of the mental health challenges faced by farm youth and to enhance their capacity to deliver effective, research-based support and education across Indiana's agricultural communities. University of Minnesota Extension trained 20 Extension educators and community professionals to teach COMET in rural counties across Minnesota to help to normalize conversations and support for mental well-being across farmer, farm families and rural communities. University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension co-hosted the Wisconsin Idea Seminar, an event that offers UW-Madison faculty and staff the opportunity to learn firsthand about the social and cultural contexts that shape the lives of many of our Wisconsin students. 50 UW-Madison staff and Hmong farmers participated in the seminar about culturally significant foods and other products to the growing Hmong and southeast Asian communities of the region. South Dakota State University designed and implemented a free one-credit graduate course/CEUs for counseling graduate students and mental health providers on supporting the mental health and well-being of agriculture families. In 2024, 20 mental health providers and 13 graduate students completed the course. In 2025, the course was only offered online as a free one-credit graduate course, and 8 counseling graduate students completed the course. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The University of Minnesota Extension shared a basic COMET report, which included a program description, audiences reached, documented impact, and educator feedback, with all training participants and organizations. This was disseminated via email. Several media sources shared about COMET including this article: https://extension.umn.edu/news/cultivating-caring-conversations-support-mental-wellbeing and several other during Healthy Aging Month (Sept 2024): https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2024/09/05/healthy-aging-month-new-training-helps-people-reach-out-to-those-with-mental-health-struggles;https://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/news/local/umn-extension-offers-healthy-aging-webinars The University of Wisconsin - Madison promoted the activities that were funding through this grant to target audiences through press releases, fliers, and conferences/tradeshows. University of Nebraska Medical Center shared our bilingual resources through mailings direct to farmworker participants as well as through 1-on-1 conversations at feedyard health fairs. North Dakota State University Extension produces a yearly Impact Statement on farm and ranch stress programming activities and impacts. This impact statement is widely shared with Extension staff, stakeholders, citizens and community leaders. Program resources are also shared directly with citizens via the NDSU Extension website, the NDSU Extension Farm Stress website, and organizational Facebook pages. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting, partners will continue to deliver mental health literacy programs to agricultural producers and supports, administer the hotline (Iowa Concern Hotline), maintain the clearinghouse website, and expanding professional behavioral health services to agricultural producers and agricultural workers. During the next reporting period, the Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team will continue advancing our youth agricultural mental health initiatives by building on the pilot training, PSA, and podcast content already developed. We will focus on delivering additional professional development opportunities for educators and agricultural advocates, expanding curriculum aid materials aligned with FFA and youth audiences, and providing ongoing support for future podcast episodes to increase awareness and accessibility. We will also address gaps identified in this period--such as the inability to formally evaluate youth pilot sessions--by enhancing anecdotal feedback collection and seeking alternative methods to measure impact where direct surveying is limited. These steps will help us meet our remaining goals for curriculum expansion, outreach, and sustained youth mental health support. For the next reporting period, the University of Minnesota FRSAN team will continue its work in providing COMET training. To strategically build the capacity of rural communities, four FRSAN team members will be trained as COMET trainers, and the team will implement a tracking system to monitor both community-based trainees and the programs they complete. In addition, the team will continue to facilitate the "A Changing Way of Life: Ambiguous Loss and Farming" train-the-trainer program, which is critical for strengthening rural communities' ability to support farm families through unpredictable changes. Lastly, local educators in Agriculture, Food and Natural Resource Systems, and Farm Safety will continue to integrate mental well-being education into their existing programming to effectively address local needs. South Dakota State University Extension is in the process of designing an on-line continuing education course for mental health providers. Nebraska Extension has spent the funds for counseling voucher, thus, closing that project. NE Extension will complete the Disaster Preparedness for Farmers and Ranchers: What is in your Toolbox resource. This project is associated with Award 2020-70028-32728 and Award 2024-70028-43552.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? University of Illinois Extension distributed 768 vouchers for free professional behavioral health services to 256 agricultural producers and others engaged in agricultural occupations. Agricultural producers and others request sets of vouchers that can redeemed with on of the program's 79 partnering providers from across the state of Illinois. According to one voucher program participant, "I recommend this program to all my friends and family members. This program saved my marriage and probably our farm." The Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team delivered 4 educational programs focused on increasing awareness and knowledge of mental health among youth in agricultural communities. Through these initiatives, the team successfully reached 417 youth, equipping them with tools to recognize stress, promote well-being, and support themselves and others within the unique challenges of farm life. Iowa State University Extension Five delivered 5 Mental Health First Aid classes in the second year of the grant to 86 participants. 83% of program participants agreed or strongly agreed they could respond to a substance use crisis including an overdose and know what to do to keep a person safe, as compared to 42% prior to taking the class. 96% of participants indicated they had a moderate or high degree of knowledge in recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental health or substance use challenges that may impact anyone after taking the class, as compared to 57% prior to taking the class. 100% of participants indicated they had a moderate or high likelihood of offering a supportive conversation with anyone about mental health or substance use challenges after taking the class, as compared to 62% prior to taking the class. Between May 2024 and June 2025, 1,263 people took part in COMET trainings held in 75 counties across Minnesota by Minnesota Extension. A total of 82 sessions were offered, including 28 online and 54 in-person. Pre-post survey results show that after the training, participants felt more confident talking about mental health. For example, the number of people likely to ask someone how they are really doing increased from 70% to 88%. Those likely to tell someone they noticed a change in their mood or behavior went up from 48% to 80%. Inviting family or friends to share about emotional situations increased from 67% to 87% and doing the same with coworkers or acquaintances rose from 48% to 79%. These improvements were all statistically significant, showing the program's potential in having an impact on normalizing conversations and support for mental well-being across rural communities. During this reporting year, University of Minnesota Extension continued to deliver A Changing Way of Life: Ambiguous Loss and Farming, a train-the trainer program designed to help farm families understand and navigate ambiguous loss while exploring strategies for moving forward. During this reporting period, 4 national trainings were completed, resulting in 63 individuals becoming trainers. This program continues to help strengthen the capacity of rural communities to support farmers and their families through unpredictable changes that are part of farm life. University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension delivered 13 farm financial recordkeeping workshops reaching 238 Hmong/Hmoob participants where they learned the importance of and the basics of recordkeeping for their farmers market business. The Wisconsin Hmong/HMoob Growers Facebook page has over 1.1K followers. The page is used to promote educational programs, provides videos and educational content, and connects growers to experts. University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, in partnership with the International Farm Transition Network, delivered 4 Certified Farm Succession Coordinator Trainings for agriculture service providers that focused on building knowledge and skills to support farm businesses with succession planning. As a result, 78 ag service providers better understand the tensions around succession and have the tools to facilitate productive conversations around succession. University of Wisconsin-Madison Division delivered 4 Thinking About Farm Succession 3-hour workshops reaching 104 participants. Participants increased their awareness about the defaults if there is no plan for their farm and about how to start gathering the information needed to plan. South Dakota State University designed and implemented a free one-credit graduate course/CEUs for counseling graduate students and mental health providers on supporting the mental health and well-being of agriculture families. In 2024, 20 mental health providers and 13 graduate students completed the course. In 2025, the course was only offered online as a free one-credit graduate course, and 8 counseling graduate students completed the course. The University of Nebraska developed a series of bilingual stress and mental health resources tailored for farmworkers in the region. Within the series, there are flyers on stress, anger management, assertive communication, and grief. Each resource provides an easy-to-understand definition (what is it), description of causes or reason what it is important, signs and symptoms, and tips for how to manage for oneself and for helping others. North Dakota State University Extension delivered 31 educational programs on farm stress and wellness to 1,025 citizens, reaching both youth and adults, extending direct education on stress and mental health in agriculture. In addition, the program reached over 250 citizens in agriculture and shared educational resources through farm stress outreach booths at multiple farm shows and other events. Also, we developed 12 new educational fact sheets and other resources that were delivered to hundreds of citizens and agricultural workers around the state. 168 individuals have utilized the Hotline Voucher Program provided by the Rural Response hotline. 153 counseling sessions were for individuals, 13 were for family counseling, and 2 were couple counseling. Individuals receiving professional mental health were seeking help with the following presenting problems: marital/family issues, inability to cope with daily activities, depressive or mood disorder, alcohol/drug misuse, and financial stress. Individuals reported an appreciation for the voucher program since it helped teach them new skills, move them forward, and that they could access counseling services without needing to pay. This project is associated with Award 2020-70028-32728 and Award 2024-70028-43552.

Publications

• Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Iwinski, S. J., Cuthbertson, C. A., Burcham, C. A., Belzer, K. L., & Rudolphi, J. M. (2024). Evaluating Mental Health First Aid for Illinois Agricultural Communities. Health Promot Pract, 15248399241259687. doi:10.1177/15248399241259687
• Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Rudolphi, J., Cuthbertson, C., Keller, K., & Mott, R. (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). doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2402037

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).