Rural Resilience course to strengthen farmers’ safety net

Rural Resilience, a free, public, online training course to help farmers, as well as their families and neighbors, cope with mounting stress, has been created. The course is free and accessible to the public at farm credit.com/ruralresilience.

Farm Credit, the American Farm Bureau Federation and National Farmers Union have joined together with Michigan State University Extension and University of Illinois Extension to create this training.

Farmers and ranchers are no strangers to hard times. Producers regularly experience fluctuating commodity prices, trade disruptions and extreme weather events that make their already challenging jobs even harder.

 The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic disruptions have only compounded the situation, increasing farmers’ stress. But misconceptions about “toughness,” perceived stigma around seeking help, isolation and lack of mental health services in rural communities mean rural residents are often reluctant to discuss the hardships they face and may not know where they can turn for help.

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