Weathering Stress and the Season

Hello. This is Doug Gucker with the University of Illinois Extension. It's mid May, and this is Outstanding in the Field. Today, I wanna talk a little bit about May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and just everyone is suffering some stress now. We've got some higher gasoline prices that are affecting everyone.

And so with the added stress, if you know anyone who who is suffering a mental health crisis, please call have them call or text 988, which is the suicide and crisis lifeline. If you're a veteran, call the same number, 988, then press 1 at the prompt. I also wanna talk about farming and the agriculture industry. Things are tough right now. Our export sales are way down.

So taking care of crops, animals, and day to day business is hard on farmers and agribusiness professionals. Caring for your health and wellness in this high stress profession is often overlooked, but is just as critical as caring for your business. A study has shown that the rate of suicide among farmers is three and a half times that of the general public. Here are some practices to help you reduce emotional and mental stress. Healthy living.

Give your body the nutrition, hydration, and rest it needs. In other words, eat well, drink plenty of water, and get a good night's sleep. Exercise. It boosts mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and stress while improving mood, cognitive function, and self esteem. This works by releasing endorphins, it increases blood circulation to the brain, and it also provides you a healthy distraction if you're having negative thoughts.

The other is disconnecting or unplugging from tasks you're struggling with. Give yourself a break. A short break of only ten minutes or less has been shown to improve your energy levels, reduce fatigue, lower stress, and improve your job performance. Another one is pausing or meditating or mindfulness. They there's different names for this.

All of these practices improve mental health by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, which lowers cortisol, which is the anxiety hormone, breaks negative thought patterns. Regular use of these practices, even just ten minutes a day, will help your emotional regulation, self awareness, and it calms the mind. The Illinois Farm Stress and Mental Health website from the University of Illinois Extension has videos explaining various meditation, breathing, and mindfulness techniques that could help you handle the stresses of farming and life. And finally, connection. Connecting with other people reduces our stress hormones and promotes a calming effect.

We need to be around other people when we're having difficulties. And then let's reach out. Seek out help. Seeking out help is a sign of strength and courage, not a sign of weakness. There are resources available to help you or someone you know.

Family, friends, social organizations, or your church, all these things can be ways that you can connect. As far as reaching out and seeking help here in Illinois, we have the University of Illinois Extension's Agricultural Mental Health Voucher Program, which allows agricultural producers and their families to seek free of charge in person counseling from a certified mental health professional. And you can call area code (217) 333-6205 for more information about how to do this. We also have the Southern Illinois University's Farm Family Resource Initiative, and this is a service where farm families can receive support from trained professionals who understand the unique challenges faced by those in the agriculture sector. These are a remote type of consultations that you can do from your home.

If you want to learn more about this, the number to call is (833) 327-6767. And if you're not a farmer and listening to this podcast, there is the Illinois Warm Line at (866) 359-7953. And the Illinois Warm Line is a peer support line that offers free, confidential, emotional support for individuals facing behavior health and support challenges. So and nationally, if you're not living in Illinois, we have the Farm Aid farmer hotline at 803276243, and the Avera Farm and Rural Stress hotline at 806914336. So in wrapping up about mental health, it's important for all of us to break the stigma around mental health challenges and encourage those struggling to reach out for help.

We do have help available. To build a sustainable future for our agriculture, for our nation, and our world, we must promote the importance of mental health awareness. Now getting over to our crops update, here in Central Illinois as of May 15 in East Central Illinois, we are close to 90% complete on planting. And after a very rapid start at April, planting slowed down at the April due to heavy rains at the very end of the month in some areas. In the past week though, the fields have dried and planting has progressed very rapidly even in the areas that received heavy rain.

Some of our areas right now are completely planted and have been for several days. The corn and soybeans planted in mid April are in the v four and first trich foliate stages respectively. So the early crops are up and growing and the fields are beginning to turn green. This week, Illinois corn farmers received good news from the house of representative passing a bill to allow year round sales of e 15 gasoline. This will help to draw down the above average corn supply that we currently have in The United States and will help to hold up corn prices and keep them from falling.

Similarly, elevated biodiesel production is holding up soybean prices due to the need for soybean oil for biodiesel. Yesterday, the University of Illinois FarmDoc team ag economist estimated the projected twenty twenty five crop year ARC PLC payments for farmers, which they won't will not receive until October, for Illinois to average $58 per acre for corn, $29 per acre for soybeans, and $47 per acre for wheat. Now this is the statewide average, and county level payments will vary depending on the county average yield. That yield data has not been released yet by the USDA, so that won't be released until June. So as we get a little further in the summer, we'll get some pretty good ideas about what the prices will be for the various counties around the state of Maryland.

So in conclusion, thank you for listening, and be safe out there farming, and look in on your neighbor if you're struggling. Thanks.