Pandemic impacting farmer mental health

A new poll out from the American Farm Bureau Federation indicates a large majority of farmers and farm workers say the pandemic has impacted their mental health.

In the results announced last week, over half of those responding said they were personally experiencing more mental health challenges compared to just a year ago. The survey examined how COVID-19 has impacted the mental health of rural adults and farmers both personally and in their community.

The survey also found experiences and attitudes surrounding mental health have changed since the organization conducted the very first rural mental health survey back in 2019. Zippy Duvall, Farm Bureau president, said the need for support is real and that we must not allow a lack of access of a “too tough to need help” mentality to stand in the way.

Morning Consult conducted the survey of around 2,000 rural adults during December.