Normalizing Farm Transition Challenges
Hope can be a driving motivator to keep going. It's being optimistic about what lies ahead. Many in agriculture, however, are facing an uncertain future today, whether it involves transitioning leadership on the farm or going deeper with a loss of something meaningful. Alan Hojer, Director & Legacy Consultant with Keep Farmers Farming, comes face to face with this form of hopelessness in some of his dealings with farm and ranch families.
But as he shares coffee at their kitchen tables, he finds many producers are eager to reveal what's weighing on their minds.
“And as a result of that, we are impacting mental health at the farms and ranches that we're working with,” he shares.
Keep Farmers Farming does not replace mental health tactics, but Hojer recognizes there is stress out there as agriculture faces a unique time in history. He explains agriculture’s generational transition in the 70s and 80s was muted due to the farm crisis, and many of today's senior farmers and ranchers don't have experience with transferring leadership and assets.
“People don't realize that there are others going through this. But agriculture is going through a level of challenge that it's never experienced before. And when people hear that story, it begins to normalize what they're going through so then they can understand that there's a whole world out there that's going through this as well. Which in itself gives you hope because you don't feel isolated anymore,” said Hojer.
Keep Farmers Farming can be a lending hand, or rather an ear to listen, exploring strategies for the future of farm and ranch families.
Learn more about the Keep Farmers Farming program here.
Taken from an interview with Pam Geppert from Dakota Farm Talk.