COLUMBUS, Ohio – From weather uncertainties to rising prices and the escalating costs of doing business, along with the long hours and the heavy burden of maintaining family farms, the responsibilities of farming can lead to significant stress and impact a farmer’s mental wellbeing.

For dairy farmers, stress might come from slumps in milk prices or the rising cost of feeding their cows. For crop farmers, stress might evolve from low prices for corn or soybeans, or even the fact they may not have been able to plant a crop that season.

Rural communities are unique and rural residents experience stressors related to economics, drug addiction, sustainable food sources, along with lack of access to medical care services and rural broadband. Add to this the burden of additional challenges and stressors like unpredictable weather, labor shortages, market pressures, international trade agreements and environmental concerns.

Because of these issues facing farmers these days, Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) has offered assistance through its Rural and Farm Stress Task Force. The task force is made up of people who can help connect farmers and their families with specialists either within Ohio State Extension or within the community.

All across Ohio, some farmers face difficult decisions.

“Nobody wants to be the one in a family to stop farming, especially if it’s been going on for generation after generation,” said Emily Marrison, a founding member of the task force and an educator with OSU Extension. “I don’t think we could ever make the assumption that the reason a farm closes down is because of poor management.”

Tough financial times on the farm have pushed many farmers to seek work off the farm for additional sources of income. One of the efforts of the Rural and Farm Stress Task Force is pointing farmers toward resources to assist their business, find new work or seek a counselor. In providing this help, the hope is to reassure and empower farmers.

“Farmers are so resilient, or they wouldn’t be doing the job they’re doing,” said Dee Jepsen, co-chair of the task force and state safety leader for OSU Extension. “For decades, farmers have dealt with weather challenges as well as shifts in markets and prices, and they have persevered. Sometimes with that strong will to persevere comes a resistance to seek help. They’re tough. They may not want to talk about their problems.”

Some farmers might see their struggles to keep their farm viable as a sign of personal failure. Even just admitting that or asking for help can be challenging for some farmers.

Amanda Bohlen, an OSU Extension educator in Washington County, knows firsthand the toll that stress can take on a struggling family. Five years ago, her husband, Kurt, had to sell off their dairy herd.

“It got to a point that it would have been cheaper for us to buy a gallon of milk from the grocery store, dump it into our tank, and resell it rather than produce our own,” Bohlen said.

Kurt had to find another job, which led to a grieving process of relinquishing a profession that was all he knew.

“It was the last of everything,” she said. “The last time you were shutting off the milk pump, the last time you were closing the barn door.”

After a stint in excavation work and another on a dairy farm that later closed, Kurt accepted a job as an agriculture teacher.

The task force encourages farmers to visit county extension offices where specialists can provide ideas on how to keep farms running or find jobs away from the farm. The task force has been particularly helpful for those facing challenges like heavy rain that delayed planting, or other agricultural difficulties.

The task force has directed farmers to mental health providers if they are struggling emotionally. This has been crucial for addressing the mental health challenges that many farmers face. It has merged resources from the agricultural community with local mental health services, providing a comprehensive approach to addressing the stressors faced by Ohio farmers.

Ohio State has provided educational programs to help farmers understand the challenges they face and how to cope with them.

“Some of the questions that farmers might have are, ‘what do I do if I have nothing in the ground this year? What skills do I have off the farm,’” Jepsen said. “And there are many, many others.”

In 2023, the Ohio Agricultural Mental Health Alliance launched a farm stress survey. More than 600 people responded from 80 of the state’s 88 counties.

According to the survey, Ohio farmers listed the following as their top stressors:

1. The cost of land

2. The cost of farm inputs like feed, seed, fertilizers and pesticides

3. Concerns for the future of farming due to factors like urban sprawl and industrialization

4. The cost of fuel, maintenance, supply chain parts and the labor force

5. Market prices for the products they’re selling

The survey also showed that farmers are more likely to talk about mental health today than they were just a generation ago. But many are still hesitant to seek help.

“They just flat out said, ‘I don’t have time to stop what I’m doing on the job to go take care of myself or to seek resources,’” Jepsen said. “About one in four farmers felt that these programs wouldn’t be a benefit for them.”

For more information about the OSU Extension Farm Stress team contact Bridget Britton, behavioral health specialist, at 330-365-8160 or email britton.191@osu.edu.