Farmers know very little about mental health. They know about physical health, but not about mental health. When I meet with them, we work together to determine what they could do in their environment. As we said earlier, all their work is done in their backyard or near their home.
How can these farmers take care of their mental health? It can be as simple as driving around their property on an ATV just to relax. Those are the kinds of recommendations that I make to them. The fact that I am a farm outreach worker enables me to go and see people who cannot come meet with us or who do not have time to do so on their own farms.
Last fall, I went to one farmer's place on corn silage day. I asked him if I could ride on the tractor with him. He asked me if I would really do that. I said yes, and I took advantage of that opportunity to help him. He was hauling boxes of corn silage. I was there with him, helping him when he needed it.