It’s been five years already since I wrote the first of 260 “Farm and Ranch Life” columns. Many more people than I ever expected read the weekly column in various publications or online.

 

Most readers are Midwesterners, but I regularly hear from people from every part of the United States and from many foreign countries (Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria and China, to name a few).

 

Each week I receive 5-20 emails, phone calls or letters, most asking how to deal with all sorts of concerns, and some to say, “Thanks.” Similarly, I appreciate your feedback and suggested topics. I thought you might like to reread what I wrote on March 30, 2012, in my first weekly message, which my predecessor, Dr. Val Farmer, sent to his readers: “Since 1984 Dr. Val Farmer has capably addressed family and rural life issues experienced by people engaged in farming, ranching and related occupations. Now that Dr. Farmer is retiring, I am taking over the production of a regular feature that offers opinions and advice about the human problems experienced by farm people and how we can manage them.

 

“Dr. Farmer leaves big shoes to fill. He has done much to make it okay for farm people to talk about family and emotional issues. I hope I can do as well as he has to address these sensitive matters.

 

“So many factors that are important to farming successfully are outside our control. We can’t control the weather. We have limited influence on markets, policies that regulate agriculture and only a little more control over such factors as disease outbreaks and machinery breakdowns.

 

“But we have a lot of control over our behaviors. We choose whether or not we get enough productive sleep, take time to communicate to our family members and work partners, whether we consume a proper diet, recreate, pray and engage in the many activities that take care of our minds and bodies. We choose whether or not to take risks, to plan properly and to communicate honestly.

 

“This column is about managing the most important resource in farming: the producers and our families. “I grew up on a grain and livestock farm in western Iowa and was highly involved in 4-H and all aspects of our farm. My wife, Marilyn, and I made the choice when we left faculty positions at the University of Virginia in 1979 to raise our children on a farm.

 

“We moved to Iowa to live on our own farm near to where I grew up. I raised registered Simmental cattle and developed an organic farm, which I operated for 22 years while also working full-time as a clinical psychologist. Now I am an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa where I teach agricultural behavior health to medical and behavioral health care professionals.

 

“Because I am gone from home so much to lecture around the country (the cattle get out of their pens only I am gone, you know!), I now rent our row cropland to a capable local farmer.

 

“Recently I authored Excellent Joy: Fishing, Farming, Hunting and Psychology, which is a celebration of life through observations of subtle nuances involving agriculture, outdoor recreation and related endeavors (it is available from www.icecubepress.com and most book stores and internet merchants).

 

“Farming is a calling. This column is about where our hearts are at. If our hearts aren’t in farming, we won’t be good agricultural producers. Most people who produce food, fiber and renewable energy do it more for the satisfaction than for the financial rewards.

 

“We feel we are carrying out a calling to be producers of essentials for life; that’s what makes us most happy about our work as agricultural producers. Not resolving the painful worries, relationship problems and human concerns that accompany farming can break our spirits.

 

“We have to address these subjects that are so difficult to talk about. This column is about understanding ourselves and our friends and neighbors engaged in various aspects of agriculture.

 

“While I have a number of important topics that I plan to address that arise from my 33 years counseling farm families, I invite your suggestions about topics you want to address.

 

“I bring my experience as an agricultural producer and my expertise as a clinical psychologist who has devoted his life to understanding and improving the behavioral well-being of people engaged in farming. I look forward to helping with issues that are sticky ones, like family disagreements about the farm operation, anxieties and uncertainties that accompany farming – the kinds of issues that Dr. Val Farmer addresses.”

 

Tell me how you feel about the “Farm and Ranch Life” columns and please suggest topics you would like to see addressed, at my email address. Thank you for making this work meaningful and fun; I plan to continue writing for as long as possible.

 

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Dr. Mike Rosmann is a psychologist and farmer in western Iowa. Readers may contact him at mike@agbehavioralhealth.com