Mental Health

Farm drones can be valuable in helping farmers keep an eye on their crops through the growing season.

Today marks seven days since I’ve watched the television news. For a news junkie, that’s a very long time. But I feel much better for having taken a break.

Leadership and impact occurs in the small moments. And present happiness is not the way you should evaluate your current day, week or month.

The Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition has worked successfully through the tension of whether it would still have grant funds for events after the days of DOGE.

The Presidential Commission to Make America Healthy Again released an assessment identifying key drivers behind the childhood chronic disease crisis.

Although Illinois Farm Bureau has worked to provide mental health and awareness resources to its members for several years, the statewide group is focused on expanding that commitment.

Women involved in the agricultural industry are generally expected to live a triple-duty lifestyle that can lead to depression and anxiety.

A shortage of mental health providers is one of the factors that makes it difficult for those living in rural areas to get the help they need.

As farmers, we usually start the day with a full list of things to get done. No matter how hard we try to do it all ourselves, our work is always made better with more hands pitching in.

Mental fitness is a personal understanding that individuals have the ability to build a happier and more productive life.

AgriNews is happy to welcome back Clay Geyer as northern Indiana’s From the Fields contributor for 2025.

Students at Grant Park learned how to “bend don’t break” during a project developed by the Grant Park FFA Chapter that focused on mental health.

To McCord Snider, FFA is not just a club, organization or another group at school.

Farmers and astronauts might seem like they have vastly different jobs, but they share a lot of common traits and skills.

The annual Indiana Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ag Professionals Conference took place in Indianapolis. The conference theme was “Innovate and Grow.”

Over this past year, I dedicated extra time to celebrating our county presidents because they are the very heartbeat of our mighty federation.

Zoe Kent hopes people get a little joy out of her talking about farming on the Internet. In one of her latest videos, she compares pesticide application to dry shampoo. “Farming is for the girls,” she quips.

The weather hasn’t presented too many challenges this winter, so far, but we know better than to celebrate just yet. We are still in a near-desperation need for runoff rain.

We have officially wrapped up the 106th American Farm Bureau Convention in San Antonio, Texas, and I’m so thankful for another incredible week with our Farm Bureau family as we looked for ways to step up and drive forward.

Attendees of the annual Illinois State Auctioneers Association Conference and Trade Show will have opportunities to learn from some of the best in the auction industry and elite speakers from across the country.

Developing a transition plan can be a stressful activity for farm families. Different types of stressors impact people including normative stressors.

Are you used to writing 2025 yet? Always amazing how time passes so quickly. This year I am super excited about the new year. I am making an extra effort to be positive and focus on family and friends.

This past year marked my second full year serving as executive vice president at the American Farm Bureau Federation and it has been inspiring to see our organization flourish as we serve farmers and ranchers.

Many of us set goals that are too ambitious or unattainable. Simply put, we set ourselves up for failure when we set unrealistic goals. We also fail if our goals lack specificity and are hard to measure and track.

As a farmer and rancher, I’ve learned to count on the seasons. They don’t wait. The crops don’t hold off until it’s convenient, and the livestock don’t adjust their needs to fit my schedule.

Charley Jordan retired from the Army as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 in 2017, after more than 28 years of service.

We are in that tough phase between decent residue grazing and great stockpile grazing. It is the hardest time of the year for grazing management.

Between harvest and preparing for the state corn-husking competition, From the Fields contributor Clay Geyer has a busy October ahead of him.

4-H has a greater reach than any other youth development organization — and young people need it now as much as ever before.

Harvest is in full swing for Mark Seib, a grain farmer from Posey County in the southwestern corner of Indiana.

A late-summer drought across much of the Midwest certainly altered the landscape. The cows are moving slowly, single file as they often do, coming from a pasture to get a drink from the automatic waterers.

Sometimes, life is heavy. Trying to balance my career, household duties and helping on the farm quickly became overwhelming. To put it lightly, I was exhausted.

In a rapidly evolving agricultural landscape, the role of a government affairs advocate is more critical than ever. Kala Jenkins has spent the past year navigating the intricate world of agricultural policy and advocacy.

National Farm Safety and Health Week will be observed Sept. 15-21 this year. The theme, “Don’t Learn Safety by Accident,” encourages people to take a proactive approach to safety education.

Many farmers quietly struggle with mental health and are reluctant to ask for help. If you or someone you know needs help, reach out to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Animal shelters across the country are loaded with adoptable animals, with more coming in all the time. How did this happen?

Maybe it’s time to put some eggs in a different basket — that is, livestock. And since cattle prices are formidable for newcomers, I suggest a more reasonable approach to diversification: sheep.

As the Fourth of July celebrations come to a close, it’s a good idea to look out for your pets and livestock.

A peer-to-peer community is available to farmers and their families from across the United States to build farm family wellness.

Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced the Building Socially Connected Communities grant program.

Throughout the years I have seen our agriculture community come together during times of need.

I’d heard that once we seniors reach a certain age, we start losing people — friends, acquaintances, other senior relatives — they start dying one by one.

May is Mental Health Month. This time is a great reminder for each of us to make sure we are consistently checking in with ourselves, with our friends and family, and beyond our fencerows with our neighbors and community members.

We owe a great deal to those who provide emergency care, protection and support to our community. Their bravery is astonishing. They are always ready to dive headfirst into danger without batting an eye.

I’ve been reading in too many places about taking steps to hold off memory and cognitive impairment, so I’ve paid attention to some of the ideas we can use to keep our brains active.

When a storm comes rolling through or tragedy strikes, farmers and ranchers are always willing to pitch in to help our family, friends or community. It’s how we are wired.

FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative invites dairy farmers to attend the cooperative’s Producer Discovery Workshop series as part of its 2024 Annual Meeting taking place on Feb. 9 at the Wintergreen Conference Center and Clarion Suites in Wisconsin Dells.

Taking steps now can help cattlemen prepare for changes in the market. “We are still in the tail end of the liquidation phase, but it seems to be slowing down,” said Ross Bronson, agricultural risk consultant.

This is not the world we grew up in, or even the world we knew for much of our lives. If my informal poll of friends and acquaintances is correct, we don’t like it much.

I hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving with family and friends. I hope you had the opportunity to take some time to relax and reenergize your mind and body. I hope you allowed yourself some time to rest.