Ag State of Mind

Podcast Topic:

  • Business

ASoM focuses on mental health and how it affects those of us involved in agriculture. I will hold conversations with both professionals and producers about addressing mental health in ag and how we can adequately remedy the stresses.

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This episode is all over the place. We just returned from vacation and I realized we didn't have a podcast ready to go. So I sat down on Monday morning and recorded my thoughts post vacation. I talk a little bit about our time in Florida, how gratitude is a super power, and how applying the tenets of stoicism can help us calm our minds and not worry about things out of our control. We will be back next week with a regular episode. I hope you enjoy this peak into our lives this week.

I talk often about how my wife Keri is such an integral part of our podcast team. She helps so much behind the scenes with allowing me the space to operate this podcast. In October at FFA National Convention, she continued to help make this podcast what it is. She had a good conversation with today's guest Abby Heidenreich. Abby is an extension agent with Purdue University and she was at FFA with a booth for Purdue's Farm Stress project. Keri got her info and passed it along to me and a few months later we sat down and had a podcast conversation about what her and the entire team at Purdue are doing... and let me tell you I was SO impressed. Purdue is truly on the cutting edge of helping producers mitigate farm stress. To check out a little bit of what they are doing, go to https://extension.purdue.edu/farmstress/category/mental-health/

Today we finish up our conversation with Elaine Froese. I'm so thankful for Elaine's abilities as a speaker AND as a listener. She acted as my coach for most of this episode, guiding my thoughts and attitudes. Folks can get free gifts at https://elainefroese.com/farm-family-coach/ . Mental Health First aid is at www.mhfa.ca . The link for LARA Webinar on March 15 is https://laraonline.ca/event/finding-fairness-in-farm-transitions/ . The link for Farming’s In Law Factor on March 26 is https://www.iowafarmerswife.com/events . Folks can book time for a discovery call after they go to my contact page. https://elainefroese.com/contact/

Elaine Froese is a farmer and a farmer coach who specializes in farm family relationships… namely in how that translates in transitioning farms between generations. Elaine carried this episode as so much of it was so close to my heart that it left me a bit emotional. Very excited for this episode and I think you’ll agree it’s worth the wait. Here are some links provided to us by Elaine. Folks can get free gifts at https://elainefroese.com/farm-family-coach/ . Mental Health First aid is at www.mhfa.ca . The link for LARA Webinar on March 15 is https://laraonline.ca/event/finding-fairness-in-farm-transitions/ . The link for Farming’s In Law Factor on March 26 is https://www.iowafarmerswife.com/events . Folks can book time for a discovery call after they go to my contact page. https://elainefroese.com/contact/

Happy February. Welcome to the second installment of the Ranching Side Hustle Podcast. Today, Tyler and I welcome back our good friend Alli Fender of the Flying F Ranch in San Diego County, California. We talk to Alli today about the origins of her brand and how her and husband Bryce have evolved their business. Alli is a good friend and a long time supporter of the podcast and we are so thankful she joined us today to share her story!

Happy February. Welcome to the second installment of the Ranching Side Hustle Podcast. Today, Tyler and I welcome back our good friend Alli Fender of the Flying F Ranch in San Diego County, California. We talk to Alli today about the origins of her brand and how her and husband Bryce have evolved their business. Alli is a good friend and a long time supporter of the podcast and we are so thankful she joined us today to share her story!

A few months ago at the AFA Leaders conference, I had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful future ag leaders. One of those individuals was Emma Seamons. Emma is a student at the University of Idaho and is doing some absolutely wonderful work online advocating for agriculture. We talk today about her journey and about her why for what she is doing. I am very excited for what the future has in store for Emma. Find her online at http://www.agwithemma.com/. Check her out all across social media. Just search "Ag With Emma"

Like many of you, I often have some sort of Internet radio going in the background while I work. I often listen to all kinds but my favorite genres are Texas Country music and Classic Rock. Well one day as I was working, a song crossed over that I didn't recognize, but found an instant connection with. I stopped what I was doing to research a bit and found that name was Brenn Hill. That was a few years ago and I have been a fan ever since. Brenn is from Utah and is passionate about the Western way of life and about agriculture. We chat today about his "why" behind his music... and I get to ask him some of the inspiration behind some of my favorite songs of his. This is an incredible episode for me to record and I hope you all enjoy it as well. You can find Brenn at https://www.brennhill.com/ and wherever you get your music online. As soon as you are done with this episode I encourage you to seek his music out and give it a listen.

This past fall, I was asked to speak at the Agriculture Future of America Leader's conference in Kansas City, MO. I was blown away by the experience and quality of the participants in this conference. In particular, I was very impressed by one particular individual, Grace Hasler. Grace was the leader of the track I was presenting to and she had an incredible energy. I knew I had to have her on the podcast. Today we chat about her experience as a student at Purdue, how COVID has affected that, about AFA, and about her plans for the future. I had a great time chatting with Grace. The future is bright!! Find Grace on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/grace_hasler/. To find out more about AFA go to www.agfuture.org

Shelbie Powell works with the Southwest Ag Center based in Tyler, Texas. We talk today about what is new with the SWAG Center and how they are stepping up their game to talk about farmer mental health. We talk about their plans for a hotline that is coming to help assist farmers in crisis. We also talk a bit about their social media campaign and how it was designed to reach farmers where they are ag. We also chat about the uphill battle that is talking to producers about mental health when they have such an independent spirit. Find SWAG Center online at https://www.uthct.edu/southwest-center-for-agricultural-health-injury-prevention-and-education-2/. Today's podcast brought to you by Xyway brand fungicides by FMC.