The economic challenges in farm country right now not only include trade tensions and commodity prices, but also relate to farm stress. In a tough economy, Minnesota Department of Agriculture Assistant Commissioner Whitney Place says the state’s role is to be a connector. “We have a lot of existing programs that came out of the 1980s. There is the farm advocates program and there are also Rural Finance Authority programs that help farms restructure debt,” says Place. “We’ve also focused on getting into local communities and training leaders to identify areas of stress or mental health symptoms in others. The Farm and Rural Stress hotline that is available 24/7 for anyone wanting to talk about issue they are having.” These farm stress resources can be found here.
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