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Mike Howell (00:08):
The Dirt with me, Mike Howell. An economics podcast where I present the down and dirty agronomic science to help grow crops and bottom lines. Inspired by eKonomics.com, farming’s go-to informational resource. I’m here to break down the latest crop nutrition research, use and issues, helping farmers make better business decisions through actionable insights. Let’s dig in. Well, hello again listeners. Welcome back to The Dirt. Now, if you recall, about a month ago we started a series talking about mental health and farmers. Today we want to continue that series and to help us do that, we’ve got a professional in the industry that’s going to talk a little bit about mental health and what farmers can do to make sure they’re getting the help they need, should they need that help. I’m pleased to have with us today, Dr. Florence Becot. Dr. Becot, if you will introduce yourself to our listeners and tell us a little bit about what you do.
Dr. Florence Becot (01:08):
Sure. Hi Mike, and thanks so much for having me. I’m Florence Becot. I am the Nationwide Insurance Early Career Professor at Penn State University, and I’m also the lead of the Ag Safety and Health program, and by training I am a rural sociologist.
Mike Howell (01:23):
Dr. Becot, I have never had the pleasure of meeting you, but you came highly recommended, and I hear that you do a lot of work with farmers and different stress factors. If you would, talk a little bit about some of these stress factors that are affecting farmers.
Dr. Florence Becot (01:36):
Yeah, of course, Mike. This is based on the research that I’ve done, but there’s also decades of research on the topic of farmer mental health. When it comes to mental health in agriculture, there are a range of factors and there are the factors that we call exceptional and some of the factors that we call ordinary, and some of the ordinary factors, that stressors that we talked about, are those that people will experience in our life. In the daily runnings of the life, it might be relationship challenges, it might be an illness that someone has, and then there are also the exceptional stressors that people might experience, and those are not as common, and they tend to be more drastic. For example, that might be a big storm that rolls through that impacts the farm. That might be commodity prices and the exceptional factors, they tend to get more attention, because they tend to impact a lot more people at once.
Mike Howell (02:24):
You touched on two things there that I’m very familiar with. We always worry about commodity prices and prices will go up and everybody’s happy. Prices go down and everybody’s all doom and gloom, and being in South Mississippi, we always have an eye open for hurricanes coming in. We can get those just about any time of the year, and that can sure disrupt the life of farmers especially. These stressors are going to affect different people different ways. So how can farmers cope with some of these stresses when they do have these stresses?
Dr. Florence Becot (02:53):
Yeah, Mike, that’s a very good question and also the idea that the stressors are not going to impact people the same way. We know that it can vary based on age, if you’re younger versus older. And some of the interesting things that we’ve heard, in talking to farmers, is that they were seeing that older farmers, some of them have gone through a number of crisis, right, maybe the crisis from the 1930s, from the 1980s and the sense of, “We’ve seen that before and we’ve navigated through it.” And also people are later in their career versus where you have younger farmers that may be trying to get established or take over an operation and maybe their financial footing is not as strong, that impacts them a bit differently. And same with men and women. We know that there are some variations in the stressors that men and women experience.
(03:41):
For example, when it comes to women, one of the stressors that we see a lot more is connected to the children and connected to having the children and doing work on the farm and of the farm. And also you sometimes have pre or postpartum depression, and so all these different stressors might require different types of solutions. And people also will cope about their mental health challenges differently, right? There are some people who won’t talk about it and there are some people who will think that this is something for them to get through by themselves or think they are not the only one. One of the things that we’ve heard is people say, “I don’t want to bother other people,” or, “I don’t want other people to know that I’m struggling.” There are some people who will talk to their spouses or to their pastors, will talk to other farmers, and then there are some people who will seek out help from their primary healthcare physician and say, “Hey, I’m not doing well. Do you have something to help me?”
(04:37):
One of the things too, that we have seen in the last few years, I don’t know if you’ve talked about it in your previous episodes, but through the 2018 Farm Bill, there was the funding of the Farm Wrench and Stress Assistance Network, and this is through USDA. There are four networks across the country in the Northeast, in the South, Midwest, and then in the West. What those centers have done is developed a number of resources for farmers experiencing mental health challenges. Some of them may be information about how to recognize the signs of stress and what to do about them on your own. Some have developed voucher programs so that if someone wants to seek help from a behavioral health provider and their insurance doesn’t cover it, the voucher can help with that.
(05:21):
And then they have either created new hotlines or they bolstered ones that they had. Crisis hotlines that are specifically targeted to farmers and oftentimes those are staffed by people who have direct experience in agriculture. There are other farmers that were farmers at some point that had farmers in their family, because in talking with farmers, what we hear a lot is the importance of being able to talk to someone who can relate about what it’s like to work in agriculture.
Mike Howell (05:49):
So that sounds like some great resources. How could growers or farmers get in touch with somebody at either the hotline or the USDA center there?
Dr. Florence Becot (05:58):
Mike, that’s a very good question, and I don’t know how far and wide you go?
Mike Howell (06:05):
We have listeners in forty-something different countries, so we reach all across the globe.
Dr. Florence Becot (06:07):
Oh, well then we can talk about that too. So if you are in the U.S., you can reach out to your extension services through the university in your state. Most, if not all, will offer something connected to mental health support. You can also search online. It’s called the Farm Ranch and Stress Assistance Network, and they will enter the name of their state. Some states you can reach out to your Department of Agriculture, but it will vary. Then there’s also Farm Aid that I know has a directory online that you can look up resources across the whole U.S. There’s also one thing I forgot to mention. When it comes to mental health, if people are stressed, depressed, feeling high levels and anxiety, there is the mental health piece. But we know that in agriculture, oftentimes stresses are financial, and they’re outside of people’s control. So depending on people’s financial situations, sometimes there are mediation services that might help farmers if they have bills that they’re not able to pay, that might help farmers restructure the bills so that it doesn’t come due all at once.
(07:13):
Crop insurance programs can also offer protection. You can’t plan for when a storm is going to come in, but you plan to have a level of protection. So when we talk about mental health, we’ve talked to a number of people in the Midwest that work in a wide range of capacities. Some of those folks are extension agents, some of those folks work for State Department of Ag. Some of those folks were from farm organizations, some were local leaders. We’ve talked to people who run the paramedics, people who are pastors or priests, really trying to get a sense of what is available in the area.
(07:48):
And one of the things that was really surprising to us when we asked beyond financial support for the farm business and beyond mental health support, what did you see as important to support the mental health of farmers, we got a range of responses such as trainings to help people communicate through difficult times all the way to affordable health insurance, child care, poverty relief. Finances are a big strain and are impacting people’s mental health. So for people outside the U.S., from what I know is there’s also been an increase in the number of supports available. I have colleagues in Europe who are actively involved in similar kinds of programs, and so I think if people were to Google the area that they live in and mental health support, they should be able to find something.
Mike Howell (08:37):
Bring the trench from the field to your field. eKonomics features the latest crop nutrition, research, tips and tools to help keep your soil and bottom lines as healthy as possible. See it all at nutrien-eKonomics.com. Dr. Becot, we’ve talked a lot how farmers can go about seeking help, different places they can turn to find some help, but we know that everybody responds differently when they’re offered different ways to get help. What are some factors that can lead to better mental health outcomes should a farmer turn to somebody to get help?
Dr. Florence Becot (09:10):
Mike, I think that’s the question we’re all trying to figure out the answer to. It’s one that I’m actively working on. So there’s been a lot of research onto people’s preferences. Do they want to go? We know that the stigma around mental health is a big factor. I don’t think it’s as much, but it used to be very hush-hush, right? You wouldn’t talk about mental health and even in some religions, it’s looked down upon to talk about your mental health or if a family has someone who dies by suicide, it’s hush-hush, you don’t talk about it. So it’s been a big factor, but there’s been increased conversations around mental health. In recent years, it seems like there’s been more conversation. I think that you and I talking together is an example of that. We also know that access to care, not all agriculture, but a lot of agriculture, happens in rural area, most of it.
(10:02):
And while not all rural areas are the same, we do know that about 60% in U.S. counties, or classified as an area that does not have enough behavioral health providers, enough psychologists or counselors. This means even if people want to go, there might not be help there or it might be a six-month wait list. So that’s really tricky if people want to do it. We’ve also heard the cost. So, one of the things that people will sometimes say, “The reason why I’m stressed or depressed or not doing well is because financially we’re not doing well and the thought of spending money on seeking help doesn’t add up.” So it’s the tricky part where the health insurance coverage, not everyone has that kind of coverage to their insurance. So those are some of the factors that in the U.S. we’ve heard about.
(10:54):
And I think that for the listeners from outside the U.S., we’ve heard there are similarities in the sense that in rural areas, if it’s going to take you an hour to drive to where a healthcare provider is, and then let’s say you’re there for 40 minute and an hour and then you drive back, that’s the half a day, if not a day. The other thing too, is even if help might be available in the area nearby, people don’t want to be seen. They don’t want their truck to be seen by the head doctor. We have heard farmers talk about the head doctor and they don’t want to be seen by them, and it’s understandable. Those can be very personal things and not everyone wants others to know what their business is.
(11:34):
So one of the things that was talked a lot about years ago was telehealth. Could telehealth be a way to make it easier for people to seek care when they want it and need it. And with COVID, some of the roles around telehealth changed and it became easier to access telehealth. Well, it’s great if you have good broadband, if you have good internet, but we know that rural areas don’t all have good internet. Even where I used to live in Wisconsin, I lived in the center of town and we had horrible internet. So I can’t even imagine what it’s like to live further away from town.
(12:11):
Telehealth is going to work for some people, but it’s not going to work for everyone. It’s a lot of factors at once. I’ve talked to farmers who say, “Well, I don’t feel like I have a problem. I don’t feel like I’m the one who is doing it wrong. I’m doing my best. I’m working really long days. I never go on vacation. I don’t make a whole lot.” And maybe solutions to really help farmers have to come from the different ways that we do commodity pricing, or we do access to land for new farmers. Addressing those stressors where they begin kind of idea. The weather is a tricky one. We’ve always had storms, but some of those things around commodity prices, access to markets, cost of input, could something be done differently so that people are not feeling strapped for cash, if I can use that expression.
Mike Howell (13:00):
Right. Well, Dr. Becot, we reach a lot of farmers and I’ve met with a lot of people that have listened to this show, but we also reach a lot of ag retailers and extension agents, people like that that interact with farmers as well. If a farmer’s having trouble, what are some signs and symptoms that some of these people that are visiting farms on a regular basis may could pick up on and try to get some help for that farmer?
Dr. Florence Becot (13:21):
Mike, you’re full of good questions, if I may say. Yeah, there’s been really an emphasis in recent years too, trying to work with folks who are in the position of going to farms on a regular basis. So that might be the mid-truck driver, that might be the input folks that you are talking about. Vets as well are very important, because vets might start to notice usually that farmer, everything is so tidy and everything is in place, and all of a sudden they start coming to the farm and they see signs of things are not put away, or maybe the animals are getting sick a little bit more or they start seeing signs. Someone might change a bit in their personality or they were very outgoing and then they no longer are. They’re a lot more quiet. They might not be as expressive. It might be in the way that people talk as well, and maybe they’re more defeatist or maybe they’re bringing up topics that feel of a character.
(14:15):
So the sense that I talked about that assumes having known the farmer for a while and seeing them over time, and I know it’s the case for extension folks, for the mid-truck drivers, the vets, they see them on a regular basis. I think sometimes too, it’s family members who notice and says something like, “You really have to do something, because that can’t go on any longer.” So there’s been both in the U.S., but also in Australia I know they’ve done a lot of work around that. France I think has done some work around that. What they do is they do train the trainer. There is a training that’s called Mental Health First Aid, and there’s also QPR question. Those are two different trainings that you can go through and similar to first aid response, you arrive to the scene of an accident and then you’re like, “Okay, what are the things that I need to do to check, and then get help to arrive?
(15:06):
And the idea is you don’t treat, but you avoid things from getting worse. So QPR and Mental Health First Aid training are similar. A lot of extension folks have gone through it. A lot of FSA folks have gone through it, which is essentially you learn how to recognize the science and what to do about it. And essentially a lot of the time it’s about assessing, is someone really at risk of hurting themselves or is it not as dire, but it’s encouraging people to seek help or to call help depending on the situation. So the idea is you’re not the one responding to it, but you are helping folks get to the help that they need.
Mike Howell (15:41):
Right, and you mentioned the extension agents went through a lot of training. I know here in Mississippi, every extension agent has gone through that training and I’m glad to hear that that’s going on in other states as well. They’re on the front lines and it’s good that they know what to do should they pick up on something like that.
Dr. Florence Becot (15:56):
I was going to say too, if you’re an extension educator, your work is agronomy or livestock health, you might not feel well suited to do it, and so I think it’s also recognizing that not everyone’s going to be comfortable doing it or knowing how to do it, because again, those can be very personal topic that people don’t want to air out in the public.
Mike Howell (16:17):
That’s exactly right. Dr. Becot, we’ve talked a lot about farmers and how they can find help, but where do most farmers tend to turn when they realize they need some help? Where’s the most common places they try to go?
Dr. Florence Becot (16:29):
It’s the family members, it’s friends. Those challenges are seen as personal, keep them within the family, so spouses or partners, life partners for folks who have them, parents or children or friends. But it’s interesting too, because we’ve heard that some farmers are hesitant to talk to other farmers about their challenges, because in particular in areas where there might be competition for access to land where people are like, “I don’t want others to know that I’m doing well.” In some areas, not all, the healthcare providers will do a basic mental health assessment, like a basic, “How are you feeling today? How have you been feeling?” So they do the physical checkup and they do the mental health checkup when people go in, but reaching out to a healthcare professional, it’s not the norm at all. I think it’s more rare.
(17:20):
I know that some of the things that I’ve heard that are interesting that are well received is peer-to-peer ship words from farmers, but not necessarily in the same area, and this way it can stay anonymous. I think it’s the Farm Foundation in collaboration with Farm Bureau and Farmers Union. Recently, they have put out a platform, and that’s the idea of finding people from the ag community to have conversations, but they’re not necessarily your neighbor. So you can have that sense of being anonymous a little bit while talking to people who are going to understand what you’re going through.
Mike Howell (17:56):
That sounds like a great way somebody could get some help. Hey guys, if you like what you heard today, do us a favor and share this podcast with someone else. It could be your neighbor, your friend, your crop advisor, or whoever you think would enjoy it. Your support helps ensure future episodes. So please like, subscribe, share, and rate the show wherever you’re listening from. Dr. Becot, my final question is, we have a lot of listeners all over the world and if they think somebody is in need of help, what can they do to help get help for those people?
Dr. Florence Becot (18:32):
Yeah, so every country is going to have different responses. In the U.S., it’s not 911, but there is the equivalent for people who are experiencing mental health. But I mean 911 in the U.S. is our number for first responders if you have any kind of urgent need, right? So you can call 911 and a dispatcher can help you. It depends how different countries responds. It’s going to vary country by country, but calling 911 or 999. In some countries, you should be able to get the help. I know that for people who belong to a church or a community of faith, some folks find relief there. But again, because of what we were saying earlier, because mental health can be looked down upon, you might not want to be talking about that wherever you go for your faith.
Mike Howell (19:18):
Right, and I think the number you’re referring to is 888. We talked about that in our first episode. So I want to remind everyone that you can dial 988 if you need some help. Dr. Becot, we sure appreciate you taking time to visit with us today. Is there any closing comments you want to leave our listeners with today?
Dr. Florence Becot (19:35):
The only thing I would say is, Mike, thank you for talking about this topic, because I think it is a very important one and I think that as there are conversations around the farm build, I’m always interested in how can the conversations around the farm build also incorporate conversations around mental health and different ways that the major stressors in agriculture can be addressed through different programs. And a word of thanks to all the people who produce the food that feeds us every day. I think that’s what I like to close with.
Mike Howell (20:06):
Okay, thanks again for joining us, and listeners, if you think somebody needs some help, don’t hesitate to reach out and talk to that person. Try to help them get the help that they need. Listeners, I hope you enjoyed the first segment of today’s show. If you did, please take a minute and give us a rating on your favorite podcast channel or app and give us some feedback as well. We want to hear from you to help make the show even better. And don’t keep it to yourself, please share these episodes with coworkers, family, friends, anyone you think may benefit from the information we’re sharing here. Don’t forget to visit our website, nutrien-eKonomics.com to help find the latest crop nutrition news and research information as well as market updates, a growing degree day calculator, a nutrient use calculator, a rainfall tracker, and much, much more. It’s all at nutrien-eKonomics.com.
(21:00):
Most episodes of The Dirt are now available for CCA credits. Visit our website and click on the agronomics tab to find these CCA credit opportunities. And if you have a question you can ask one of our agronomy team members. Simply ask your question and one of us will get back with you. Thanks for listening. Now, segment two of The Dirt.
(21:23):
Well listeners, thanks for coming back for segment two today, and as you know, we’re continuing our series talking about different research stations around the country and the importance these stations have to our way of life and getting the best research information out to our growers. To help us continue doing that today, we’ve got Dr. Daniel Stephenson with LSU on the air with us today. Daniel, thanks for joining us.
Dr. Daniel Stephenson (21:44):
Thank you for having me. It’s a pleasure.
Mike Howell (21:46):
Daniel, if you will, introduce yourself to our listeners a little bit and tell them what you do there with LSU.
Dr. Daniel Stephenson (21:51):
All right, so I was hired in 2008 by the LSU AgCenter to be a research and extension weed scientist. Been doing that since then, the past 16 years. About eight years ago, I was asked to be the field crops research manager, working with faculty members, do the field crop work and then five years ago I was asked to be the overall research coordinator over cattle and crops here, weed scientists as well as doing that position. Then in August of last year, I accepted the role as the regional director for the central region. The LSU AgCenter divides Louisiana into five regions. I have 10 parishes from the Texas lines and the Mississippi line, right through the center of the state where I’m responsible for virtually everything here in the state. Not necessarily programming, but overall administration. I’m still doing weed science right now, and I’ll be looking to replace myself sometime this year. Move full-time into admin.
Mike Howell (22:51):
Daniel, it sounds like you’ve got three full-time jobs going on now. I’d hate to be in your shoes. So you are located there in Alexandria on the research station, and that’s what we wanted to talk a little bit about today. If you would, give us a little history about the research station there and some of the major accomplishments that’s been going on there over the history.
Dr. Daniel Stephenson (23:10):
The Dean Lee Research and Extension Center began in the mid-’60s, and it at one time was an old plantation that the land was donated and the LSU board of Supervisors started this research station predominantly focusing on row crop and cattle production in the Red River Valley of Louisiana. But we also log our programming can reach down and touch into the Atchafalaya Basin, that area, the Farming St. Landry’s Parish predominantly points a piece. From a row crop standpoint, we focus on corn, cotton, grain, sorghum, soybean, wheat and oats. And then we have a relatively large beef cattle research program here. Oh, we grow sugar cane. Cannot forget sugar cane. We’ll have nine faculty positions here at this research station. It’s approximately 2,500, 2,600 acres of land. 500 of it is in row crop, and about 800 of it is in pastures. Then rest of it’s in trees, to be honest with you, the biggest station that the LSU AgCenter has and may very well be the most diverse research station that the LSU AgCenter has.
Mike Howell (24:21):
I was going to say, it’s been several years since I’ve been on that station, but it seems like I remember it had some low areas and some heavy textured soils and then you get up into some lighter textured, well-drained soil. So you can do a wide array of research there.
Dr. Daniel Stephenson (24:34):
Absolutely. We have a very good sample on this, everything, particularly in the Red River Valley. The Red River Valley is known to have high pH soils, because of the high amount of calcium in the soils. We have that here. All our research, really the work that we do, we can apply that data to somebody in the northwest for the state around Shreveport, and all the way down to where the rigs next to Atchafalaya. But also for me, like weed science, I can apply it down into the Basin with… The soils may not have as high pH, but it is applicable.
(25:06):
We have the state soybean specialist that’s located here, extension pathologists here. The statewide row crop entomologists is located here. Got a sugar cane agronomist, I mentioned we’ll be starting later this year. And then multiple scientists and beef cow and row crops, quite diverse. We’ll get started with the crop side of corn in March, and we’ll finish either picking cotton or harvesting soybeans in October. So it takes a while here. This is pretty diverse. We’ve got multiple civil service employees as well as numerous research associates. It takes a big group of people to keep this research station operating.
Mike Howell (25:45):
And Daniel, I know all of the research y’all are doing there is geared toward the farmers in Louisiana, and I know you have field days throughout the year to bring those farmers in and show them what you’re learning there at the station. Do you have any field days set up for this year? Something that growers are going to be interested in coming to?
Dr. Daniel Stephenson (26:00):
Absolutely. August 6th, we’re doing a soybean production skill. In the past couple of years we’ve counted on agronomic crops and we felt we wanted to focus in even more. I have no illusions that our research field days will be the size of the rice stations down in Crowley or the sugar station down there in the Southeast. It is St. Gabriel. It’s almost a culture to go to those as people. So our attendance is strong, not as strong as you’d like it to be, obviously. So in response, one of the things that we’re going to start doing, is if our row crop and beef cattle scientists have something that they can film and post on YouTube and through the LSU AgCenter’s Facebook pages, so we’ll grow, we’ll still be able to get information and look at that.
(26:47):
So hot topics, for example, if Dr. James Villegas, who is our extension entomologist, has a trial looking at red band and stink bugs and he’s got some differences there, we could film a video and he can talk about right then, immediately, and get it posted, that information can be available. So we’re trying to supplement the traditional field days by using the new social media, which I mean I’m 49 years old, so I’m just a little bit older than the Facebook and stuff like this. I haven’t learned how to do it all yet, but I’m glad I’ve got people who know how.
Mike Howell (27:18):
Technology is wonderful and I’m still trying to figure it all out myself. But a lot of ways to get information out to the growers these days, and more and more growers are taking advantage of that. Glad to see you’re putting those videos out there. Daniel, we’ve talked a lot about the history of the station and what you’re doing now. What do you see happening in the next 50 years?
Dr. Daniel Stephenson (27:35):
I see this research station, the beef cattle side, that are growing significantly. We’ve got a rather large area just to the west of us. That’s probably 1,500 acres. That’s mostly trees, but we’re reclaiming the pastures and getting those back in shape with having that new cattle scientist here. They’ve hired a new cattle scientist up at the Hill Farm in Holler. So Marcelo Vedovatto, who’s our beef cattle scientist, will we working with that individual. So a lot of collaborative work. That’s the way I see that.
(28:05):
From a row crop standpoint, definitely see sugarcane research increasing. Sugarcane is moving north, coming into the Red River Valley. Hasn’t really gone past Alexandria yet, but there’s a lot of growers where it used to be Totten, say all the way down to [inaudible 00:28:21] for example, 30 minutes south of here, is all cane. So we’re slowly increasing our footprint. We have a sugarcane scientist, he decided to leave and go to another position, so we have a new person coming in. We’ll be excited about that. But cane is going to become a major focus of this research station, because that matches our growers needs. I grew up on a farm, so I’m very sensitive to the farmer’s needs and what they need and being a place of unbiased information for them to help them succeed in farming, because if they’re not succeeding, then we’re not doing our job in my opinion.
Mike Howell (28:57):
Daniel, that’s exactly right. And we can’t thank y’all enough for what you’re doing as well as all the other experiment stations across the country. That’s the backbone of agriculture. If we don’t have these experiment stations and the extension agents to get that information out to the producers, we’re just spinning our wheels and nobody’s going to get any better. So thanks again for all you do and we appreciate you joining us on The Dirt. Listeners, we appreciate you tuning in this week. And as always, if you need any more information on anything we’ve discussed today, you can visit our website. That’s nutrien-eKonomics.com.
