Garrett County Government - Department of Business Development

Addressing Farmer Stress Webinar Series

Last Updated on May 24, 2023 at 9:40am | Agribusiness

Fading background from dark blue to light purple; 3 half circle lines in white print with the words "Cultivemos, The Network for Farmer Well-Being"
Join University of Delaware Cooperative Extension Educators as they address the complex topic of farmer stress. This four-part webinar series will increase your knowledge about mental health, effective communication techniques, building resilience within your community, stress and stigma as they have impact on producers and their families.
 
As people working with producers and farm workers in farming, fishing, and logging industries, we know how stressful these careers and lifestyles can be. We are in the unique position to support the success of our neighbors, family members and clientele, because we understand the uniqueness of their motivations, concerns and wellbeing. While we are strong in many areas, often we are not so confident in our ability to have supportive conversations that will improve decision making, build on their strengths, and address tough topics. You may be unsure about what to say when working with those who are burned out or stressed. The focus of this training series is to strengthen skills and confidence in your ability to use proven communication tools to reduce all types of risks and build resilience in your community members and their enterprises.
 
Participants will:
 
  • Increase knowledge and skills for effective communication techniques that facilitate positive and productive conversations. This will include appreciative inquiry; improv techniques and the impact humor can have on mental wellbeing.
  • Increase knowledge about mental health, stress and stigma, and the impact these have on producers and their families;
  • Increase knowledge of mental health resources and the Confident Conversations programmatic resources;
  • Increase capacity to address mental health and build resilience in operations and the families within their communities.
Overview of the Four-Part Series:
 
June 7, 1-2pm EST Confident Conversations: Using Improv and Humor to Address Mental Wellbeing and Increase Confidence. This session will offer an overview of the educational resources and how to use them with your clientele. We will review the background of the development of these resources, ground the materials in communication and adult education theory and lay the ground work for the rest of this training series.
 
June 14, 1-2pm EST Conversations in the Cornfield: This session will introduce the humor and communication technique of “Yes and” and appreciative inquiry as tools to create safe environments for difficult conversations.
 
June 21, 1-2pm EST Super Farmer of Hope: This session will introduce the idea of character strengths and strength spotting as tools to validate and build on strengths to support communication and creative problem solving.
 
June 28, 1-2pm EST WFRSAN Emotional Weather Report: This session will review information about burnout, provide strategies for determining sources of burnout and offer techniques to address them.
 
 
Presenters:
 
  • University of Delaware Cooperative Extension
  • Maria Pippidis, Extension Educator- retired, Family and Consumer Sciences
  • Laurie Wolinski, Extension Educator, Agriculture Risk Management
  • Jake Jacobs, Program Coordinator, FRSAN/-NE Cultivemos Project
 
This event is underwritten by the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and the Extension Cohort of the Cultivemos network (AKA Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network).