Ag News
Farmer mental health: Resilience not same as invincibility
Posted on May 20, 2026 at 15:57 PM
Members of Georgia’s agricultural community and mental health advocates gathered March 12 for the fifth Georgia Farm Stress Summit to discuss how they can help farmers navigate the stress of their livelihood.
UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Associate Dean for Extension Michael Toews noted that last year Georgia ranked No. 2 in the country for bankruptcy proceedings.
“Georgia farmers are facing a severe mental health crisis. First-generation farmers have higher stats for stress,” Toews said. “Resilience doesn’t mean invincibility. We need to offer listening without judging and remind farmers they’re not alone.”
Keynote speaker Tara Haskins, who holds a doctor of nursing practice degree and is the health director of the nonprofit AgriSafe, outlined ways the agriculture community nationwide can continue to reduce the stigma of talking about mental stress and improve farmers’, loggers’, and commercial fishers’ mental well-being.
“Sometimes the resilience we celebrate can mask exhaustion,” Haskins said. “It’s easy to understand why. Farmers are responsible for their employees. They’re dealing with concerns about the weather, supply chain, labor shortages, public scrutiny and policy uncertainty.”
She advocates mental health training be normalized and included with farm safety training. “Ag leaders need to have the courage to say mental health sustains workers in agriculture. We need permanent funding, research and policy advocacy on the state and federal level. We can either treat mental health as a crisis response or embed it and improve on how we help people. History will judge us by whether we were able to reduce the suicide rate and the stigma of mental issues in agriculture.”
Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Kevin Tanner and Georgia Farm Bureau President Tom McCall discussed what their organizations are doing to help.
Tanner urged anyone having a mental health crisis in their family to call the DHDD hotline at 988. Trained clinicians are available to talk 24 hours, seven days a week.
“The Georgia Crisis Access Line gets about 1,000 calls or texts a day,” Tanner said. “The top 20 counties that have used 988 in Georgia are rural.”
McCall urged members of the ag community to reach out to friends they see struggling.
“Don’t wait for them to come and talk to you,” McCall said. “If you have friends going through issues, ask them if they are okay and if they want to talk.”
Tanner said a good way to get people to share their struggles is to share your own.
“Give that person the opportunity to open up by saying, ‘Let me tell you what I’m dealing with or let me tell you about my struggles,’” Tanner said. “When we allow people to see our vulnerability, it allows others to open up.”
McCall said addressing farmer mental health is a priority of the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture, which was instrumental in creating the Georgia Agricultural Wellness Alliance in collaboration with Mercer University.
Farm & rural mental health resources
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org.
https://agr.georgia.gov/mental-health-agriculture
https://site.extension.uga.edu/thriving/
www.fb.org/initiative/farm-state-of-mind
https://gafarmstress.org/healthy-mindset/
www.fcs.uga.edu/extension/opioids-resources-toolkit-for-rural-georgia
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