Farm Stress Management

Farm Stress Management

Farm families are the backbone of America, providing important commodities like food, grains, and they are a significant component of our national economy. Having healthy farms and healthy farm families promotes environmental stewardship, cultural legacies, and rural community growth.

But farm families are feeling the pressure of an inconsistent and unreliable economy. Finances, legal issues, and physical and mental well-being are all at the forefront of agricultural concerns. Farmers have been forced to parcel off their land, file for bankruptcy, deny their children inherency rights, and take secondary jobs off the farm to provide health insurance and supplemental income to make ends meet.

These stressors can lead to mental and emotional distress, substance abuse, anxiety, depression, and even suicide.

Because of the critical role of farmers in our state and across the nation, the University of Maryland Extension has prepared this selection of assets to help farm families navigate the numerous resources available online and provide timely, science-based education and information to support prosperous farms and healthy farm families.

Choose from Financial Resources, Stress Management, or Legal Resources to find a variety of online information, guides, and tools developed to help in each of these areas. As more tools are developed, these pages will be updated to reflect current information and serve as a support for highlighting future workshops and programming.

Farm Stress Management Online Course Announcement

This online self-paced training is designed for Agriculture Service Providers to equip them with the skills and knowledge to support farms and farm families in times of distress. The training was developed by the University of Maryland Extension Farm Stress Management Team. The goals include: identify signs of distress, develop skills to communicate with those experiencing stress, and provide resources both locally and nationally. Financial and regulatory topics will also be discussed as they are often contributors to stress on the farm. To access the course visit our online portal at https://umeagfs.teachable.com

For more information on the Farm Stress Management program visit go.umd.edu/farmfamily. The program is open to all and is funded through a grant with the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under sub award number ENE20-160-34268.