WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The stress of farming has never, perhaps, been higher.

In response, a Purdue University program making sure farmers have access to mental health care has expanded to other states.

The Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team (PEFST) in late 2020 joined a 12-state initiative awarded a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant. The funds are being used to create and expand stress management, mental health resources and services to agriculture producers in the North Central Region.

“The Purdue Stress Management Team believes the most important farm assets are farmers, farm families and farm employees,” said Tonya Short, Purdue Extension Health and Human Sciences educator in Knox County. “We are dedicated to helping take care of the most important farm asset - you.”

Short is also a farm stress team member.

According to Purdue officials, PEFST was formed in January 2019 by a group of 11 educators after they attended a Farm Stress Management workshop hosted by Michigan State University Extension.

Twenty educators are now trained in farm stress management and certified in mental health first-aid which is taught by Purdue Extension Health and Human Services.

Since PEFST was formed, 1,550 people have been reached with more than 50 in-person programs, Purdue officials said. Another 267 people have participated in four virtual programs nationally.

According to Purdue officials, the mission is reaching farmers who don’t have convenient access to treatment or don’t pursue help for mental health because of the stigma associated with such care or lack of health insurance.

Doug Leman, executive director of Indiana Dairy Producers, worked closely with Purdue Extension to bring a farm stress workshop to his organization. Leman said he wanted to bring awareness to mental health on the farm and be open about how stress is affecting farmers and farm families.

He experienced overwhelming farm stress followed by depression and isolation when forced to sell his struggling dairy farm in 2010 after 40 years in the business.

“I understand how people can get to the point of depression because of the feeling of helplessness,” he said. “You feel like you’re on your own and that there’s nobody else that is going through what you’re going through. Now I realize that there are so many dealing with those things, too.”

By joining the 12-state initiative, PEFST is finding new ways to collaborate with state agriculture and health agencies. PEFST was also invited recently to help plan a new national suicide prevention hotline.

“Our team’s mission is to make sure farmers, farm families and rural needs are represented in new and expanding mental health resources,” Short said.

According to a poll by American Farm Bureau Federation, 66 percent of farmers and farm workers say the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their mental health. The poll of 2,000 respondents also showed younger rural adults were more likely than older rural adults to say the pandemic has impacted their mental health a lot.

The number of farmers and farm workers believing social isolation impacts their mental health increased 22 percent from April 2019.

“My takeaway from this survey is that the need for support is real and we must not allow lack of access or a ‘too tough to need help’ mentality to stand in the way,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “The pandemic added a mountain of stress to an already difficult year for farmers and they need to know that sometimes it’s OK not to be OK, that people care and that there’s hope and help.”