Farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers become good at recognizing the signs of stress in plants and animals — but may pay less attention to their own stress and need for self-care. Research and studies on the mainland suggest disturbingly high levels of stress and depression among agriculture producers. In fact, a recent 2020 study by the CDC found farmers have the fourth-highest rate of suicide when compared to educational, service, health care and service professions.So is this also true for ag producers in Hawaii? What do Hawaii ag producers say about what stresses them out, and how they deal with it? What can the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (UH-CTAHR) do to assist?

A recent USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant under the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) program and administered by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) was subawarded to UH-CTAHR to create a project called the “Seeds of Wellbeing,” or SOW.

SOW includes a team of faculty and students on the Manoa campus on Oahu, faculty in the CTAHR Extension offices around the state, and additional grant funded staff across the islands to fulfill three goals:

1. Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of ag producers and their ohana and analyze the results to determine the most common stressors

2. Develop educational materials and resources to help address these stressors

3. Implement a social marketing campaign to help the community become more aware of the value and importance of local agriculture

To accomplish the first goal, we are asking farmers, ranchers and their ohana to complete our survey, or participate in an interview, or both:

A. Online Surveys. We invite agriculture professionals and their families to complete an anonymous online survey about current sources of stress, tools they use to address stress, and preferred methods of learning more about tools and resources available to assist.

>> Agriculture producer’s surveys here: https://tinyurl.com/ProducerSOW

>> Ohana/family members of ag producer here: https://tinyurl.com/OhanaSOW

B. Talk Story Interview. The SOW team is conducting longer live interviews, or “talk story” sessions, with Hawaii ag professionals. These one-on-one conversations either in person, by phone, or virtually give the researchers greater insights and details. (For more information, email thaole3@hawaii.edu.)

C. Both. While it is most critical to get as many online surveys completed as possible, if producers and their ohana would be willing to set up time for a talk story interview, we would appreciate them completing the online survey as well, and there is a place at the end of the survey to indicate you are willing to also be interviewed.

Once the needs are known, we will then develop resources by identifying what currently exists, where there are gaps, and how to fill those gaps. Resources developed will include workshops, podcasts, website content and connections with mental health professionals. Please find, follow and like our social media, podcast and website to stay up to date on the project, and use this link to find them all from one location: https://linktr.ee/sow_ctahr.

While initially only funded for one year, SOW intends to be sustainable for years to come by identifying common themes and trends among Hawaii ag producers, and making plans to address those needs. The results may then “seed” a new multiyear program to address specific needs that are unique to Hawaii or guide the podcast series to address topics from many different points of view.

Dr. Thao Le is principal investigator of the Seeds of Wellbeing (SOW) project, who submitted this article on behalf of the SOW team.