Purdue Extension Office to Host Program to Help Dubois County Farmers Cope With Stress

BY: DAVID SHEPHERD, NEWS DIRECTOR

DUBOIS COUNTY -- Dubois County farmers have had a rough go of it in recent years and the Purdue Extension Office is offering a free program to help.

"It costs a lot just to get the year up and going with the equipment and seed and all of the supplies that are needed to make the year a successful one," says Lisa Wilson with the Purdue Extension Office.

"With the years of poor weather that we've been having, and the market hasn't been that great, the stress increases.  Farming, in itself, is a stressful endeavor just because of the time commitment involved and the workload and the physical labor that goes with it.  So, to not be able to see those benefits on the backside just really adds to that stress level."    

Farmers are the backbone of many communities and Wilson says we need the communities to rally around their farmers too, especially in the bad times.

"We're really reaching out to the entire community knowing farm families are very busy and may not be able to come on this evening, we're hoping that all members of the community can come about and learn skills and have time to converse with people in our community to help our whole community lift up our farm families and be there whenever you notice that they are going through some stress and maybe be able to point out some skills that they may use to cope with their stress in a positive way instead of turning to substance abuse or more negative ways of dealing with their stress."      

There will be two programs on Weathering the Storm in Agriculture, both are on March 16th.

The first program will be at 5 p.m. at the Dubois Community Park on Jasper-Dubois Road and HWY 545.

The second at 7 p.m. at the Dubois County Fairgrounds in the Clover Pavilion.

A meal will be provided.  If you want to eat, you need to RSVP by today (Wednesday) by calling the Purdue Extension Office.   If you want to attend but don’t get to RSVP in time, you can still go, you just might not be able to receive a meal.