Let’s Talk Mental Health: An Assessment of Oregon Agricultural Stakeholders Discussing Mental Health

Working in agriculture presents some unique mental health stressors, including financial difficulties, climate variability, and isolation. Currently, Extension offers mental health literacy programming addressing mental health and suicide in agricultural communities; however, some of the programming is underattended, and resources are underutilized. We sought to find out how communicating about mental health resources was perceived by agricultural stakeholders who work closely with farmers and ranchers, including agribusiness employees, leaders in the community, and pre-service agriculture teachers. Through this mixed-method study using focus groups and a survey, we wanted to find out the perceptions of mental health resources to help inform communication methods of the mental health resources. We found that stakeholders preferred embedding mental health resources within the existing resources they offer to farmers and ranchers. Stakeholders were interested in more training, specifically to learn about the warning signs of mental health; however, some of the agribusiness participants found that discussing mental health could put them in an uncomfortable position, both personally and professionally, within the business context. The term “stress” should be used in place of “mental health,” and Extension should be the channel through which the information is communicated.