"How are you really doing?": Social Sustainability of Beginning Farmers

A. Survey results

We initially aimed to have 190 people complete the survey; however, as an exploratory study with a month-long window for data collection amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we received 64 completed surveys. Two respondents did not complete the survey and were excluded from the analysis, leaving us with a sample size of 62. 

Over half of our sample were female farmers (51.6%), while 38.7% were male, and 9.7% identified as non-binary or transgender. While most participants were white (91.9%), 8.1% identified as Black, Hispanic/Latino, or Asian. Survey respondents ranged from 25 to 74 years old with 57% reporting their age as 25 to 44 years old. Around 45% had a bachelor’s degree, and 39.1% had graduate or professional degrees. Sixty percent of respondents farmed in rural areas, while 22.2% farmed along the rural-urban fringe. Over 76% of our sample were first-generation farmers, and overall, farmers produced a wide range of agricultural products (e.g., annual, perennial, livestock) and used a variety of practices (e.g., organic but not certified, pasture-raised livestock, reduced tillage). Nearly 40% had a full-time off-farm job, and 20.3% had a part-time off-farm job. Around 14% of our sample had a household income between $0 and $24,999/year, while 29.3% had household incomes over $100,000. Another 26% were between $25k-$49,999, and 17.2% were between $50k-$74,999. In our sample, 67.2% did not have a child/dependent, and 83% lived with at least one other adult. Eighty-nine percent reported having high food security, while 11% reported low or very low food security (i.e., food insecurity).

In our sample, 58.1% of respondents reported mild, moderate, or severe symptom-burden of anxiety or depression. Anxiety was suggested among 34% of the sample, which is higher than 19% among the U.S. general population (ADAA, 2022). Depression was suggested among 16% of respondents, compared to 8.4% of U.S. adults (NIMH, 2022). Participants accessed various mental health supports. For example, 26.2% utilized in-person counseling or therapy, 21.3% used telecounseling, 29.5% used prayer or faith-based therapy, and 36.1% used alternative or body-based therapy. Over 66% of men had not accessed any mental health support in the past year, though our data suggests that 37.5% of men experienced anxiety, 25% experienced depression, and 68.9% had anxiety/depression/stress interfere with life.

Top systemic stressors impacting mental health included having too much to do and too little time, COVID-19, not having enough person-power, climate change, and social justice. Participants shared their greatest needs for stress management, mental health, and wellness, which included: 1) time for work, family, and self, 2) money, 3) assistance/help/a partner, and 4) social networks/connection. The primary challenges to maintaining positive mental health and wellness included: 1) financial worry/circumstances, 2) not enough free time for self/off-farm, 3) social connection/isolation, and 4) time pressure. Nearly 87% of women, 54.2% of men, and 100% of non-binary or transgender individuals said that social justice was a source of stress, while 40% of non-binary or transgender, 23.4% of women, and 60% of non-white participants reported discrimination as a source of stress. Survey results were used to inform in-depth interviews along with outreach and engagement activity in Year 2 of the project.

B. Interview results

Twenty semi-structured interviews were administered, each 60-90 minutes long. Thirty-five percent of interviewees identified as male, 45% as female, and 20% as non-binary, transgender, two-spirit, or gender fluid. Seventy-five percent of interviewees were white, 15% were Black or Black and Indigenous, 5% were Latine, and 5% were Asian. Ninety percent of interviewees were first-generation farmers. The mean age of interviewees was 38.3, with a range from 27 to 60 years old.

For ease of reporting, interview results are organized into four categories, though there is some overlap between categories. The four categories are 1) How are beginning farmers coping with stress or mental health?, 2) What are beginning farmers’ experiences with mental health?, 3) What barriers do beginning farmers face in accessing stress management or mental health resources?, 4) What systemic factors contribute to stress for beginning farmers?

I. How are beginning farmers coping with stress or mental health?

• Social support and mutual aid. Participants described receiving emotional support from friends, neighbors, family/spouses, mentors, and like-minded people. Some expressed difficulties finding groups of like-minded people. Participants also noted instrumental or informational support from farm organizations (e.g., conferences, farmer networks) and farm volunteers. However, several interviewees expressed difficulty accessing informational support that was relevant to them as farmers using alternative farming practices or working on a small scale.

Several participants described social support, mutual aid, and pooling knowledge at farmers markets: “But I also find that going to the farmers markets is like a really fun part of my week and is helpful in like being able to chat with other farmers and, like, I felt like I made like some pretty close friends over the past year at the market and then at the, I did the winter market as well, I guess I didn't mention that. So yeah, just like those kinds of connections were really nice to have on a weekly basis, and just someone to chat with and, and kinda talk about, how's your week going? Urgh, It's July! Just nice to like have someone else who knows that without having to, you know, kind of explain why July is a brutal month.” However, this experience was not described by interview participants who were BIPOC, queer, or non-binary.

• Therapeutic nature of farming. Participants described how being in the soil, spending time with animals, and working outdoors in nature is calming. Some respondents turned to farming as a way to combat stress. Farm work was described as rewarding work that provides purpose.
• Individual coping mechanisms. Interviewees described physical practices such as eating nutrient-dense foods, being physically active, breathing exercises and mindfulness, taking breaks, and acupuncture or other bodywork. Psychological or cognitive coping practices included problem-solving, creating a sense of control, letting things go, positive reframing, and positive distractions with hobbies. Interpersonal coping practices included transparent communication with partners and customers.

Minimizing discrimination as a potential coping mechanism: Some respondents shared experiences of discrimination or oppression, but the interviewer noticed that they downplayed these experiences, perhaps to cognitively reframe and minimize the challenges: “I’ve probably only maybe had like one experience where I’ve kind of felt unsafe as a female farmer. Like, I got kind of harassed when I was out at a farm site by myself by a neighbor, who was like cat-calling me and was like, was a little, I was scared. And that, like, certainly affected my desire to be on the site alone for a while and was hard. And I’m lucky that that’s, like, the worst thing that I can think of that really, like has stuck with me and had like a response like that where I felt unsafe for a while in that environment.”

• Lacking current coping strategies. Some participants described how they do not manage their stress well: “I can’t say that I do manage it very well. I have definitely had, you know, stress-related health stuff. I started getting migraines, very bad.” (Barriers to stress management are described in a subsequent section.)

II. What are beginning farmers’ experiences with mental health?

• Mental health as “a roller coaster.” Several participants used the term “roller coaster” to describe their experiences with mental health and stress: “It [farming] has its, it has its amazing highs, but it’s but its lows are so much lower than I ever thought possible.” The roller coaster related to the seasonality of farming, with a hectic growing season and a slow/depressing winter: “I mean, farmers markets to me like are church. So like, every Saturday I’m going to church. Then like, church ends and then it’s, it’s winter and the days are shorter and it’s colder and it’s like, I don’t have as much fresh grown food and I just, I just feel it. It weighs on me. But winter is always, I feel like that’s for a lot of people, but winter is one of the more (pause), uh it’s just one of the more (pause) mellow times, depressing times.” The “roller coaster” also related to acute stressors faced by participants: “Acute stress, like doing veterinary care without a lot of education or supplies, like putting a lamb’s intestines back in at like midnight in your kitchen.”
• Rugged individualism perpetuates mental health challenges. Interviewees described not knowing when to ask for help or thinking “this is the way it is” regarding mental health challenges. Participants associated mental health support with times of crises rather than a proactive approach to sustaining mental well-being: “So I have seen a therapist, a couple different therapists over the years, mostly kind of in more so like in times of crisis, not as, like a maintenance approach.” Some participants described going to therapy and finding it beneficial, yet the financial cost of therapy was high: “I would say it’s [therapy] probably, we probably spend as much on therapy as we do on groceries, like, it’s one of our major expenses.”

Participants described working through or ignoring depression or anxiety symptoms. As a result, negative mental health outcomes showed themselves in unpredictable ways, such as physical manifestations like panic attacks, headaches, and autoimmune condition flare-ups. One participant described how she learned to pay attention to early signs of stress:

“In tractor machinery, there is a cotter pin that you’ll put in that will break and that’s to prevent something even more expensive from breaking, and if something is consistently wrong in your cotter pin, it’s so tempting to be like, I’m just going to put a fucking steel bolt in here and this will never break again… which you would never do with a tractor, because that means that your engine is just going to shred itself to bits or whatever. So I think once you start realizing that small mental health problems are the cotter pins of your whole being, instead of being like, oh, I guess I'll just cry less, being like oh… this is letting me know that there’s gonna be a full engine shutdown.”

• Farm as “a tool for mental health” but also a detriment. Participants described the therapeutic nature of working outside. However, not all aspects of farming were beneficial. Participants described sacrificing vacation or time away from the farm and not being able to process personal challenges such as death/grief/loss. Some aspects of farming contribute to feelings of depression such as not making enough money or not being able to pay the bills.

"You know, we do sacrifice a lot, especially when we're raising the animals. I mean, we couldn't leave the house to go and do anything, because we didn't have the resources of others to come and help."

"Mental health is hard, because like I said, you're not going to make a lot of money at this, you're going to go into a lot of debt in the beginning season, and then you start to, you start to break even around August every year."

III. What barriers do beginning farmers face in accessing stress management or mental health resources?  

• Inaccessibility due to high cost, inadequate health insurance, or difficulty finding care. Participants described how it is difficult and time-consuming to find a therapist or “finding someone that I can trust,” especially when navigating confusing health insurance compatibility. Some described not knowing what resources are available to them. Rural spaces were described as having inadequate mental health resources: "Access to health professionals in the local area is super hard. It was like a three-hour trip to go get therapy… that's like a good part of a work day.” Others described that available resources are for mental health crises rather than more proactive, mental health maintenance approaches.

Some interviewees described mental health professionals’ lack of implicit understanding of farming or the relationship to land: “I guess any issues that might be related to farming, I don't think anybody [therapists] would be inclined to understand the full picture of the challenges that we face. So I guess with the issues related to farming, I wouldn't really put a lot of trust, maybe, into their diagnosis or advice. Because they haven't been in the trenches and they don't know how it is, you know, it's a very unique, it's a very unique feeling, you know, to have, you know, $2,000 of crops in, or whatever, and then to experience a flood, you know. And people don't understand that because, you know, they might think it's, you, oh, you, you know, $2,000 or as a monetary loss or whatever. But really to me, it's a lot more than that because I've had a lot of time commitment in that, you know. It's more of a gut shot than just the money thing. And I don't think people would understand that, or maybe discount it to a level where I would be a little bit upset about it, you know?”

• Social stigma: “it's something we're all expected to, like, bottle up and deal with, it seems." Interviewees described social stigma around seeking care. Specific reasons included fear of being vulnerable, stigma around making time for care, and difficulties asking for help.

"My wife has occasionally, occasionally told me I should go speak with someone (small smile). I've never spoken with anyone… I'm a guy, so guys, typically, you know, they don’t talk about things too much."

"I'm just not a huge asker of help. And especially when it comes to mental health, I'm not going to reach out publicly and ask someone for help. And so you know, when I can't find what I'm needing, or know where to look, then I kind of feel a little stuck just because I'm not comfortable to reach out to people and ask."

IV. What systemic factors contribute to stress for beginning farmers?

• “The stress of capitalism.” Participants described the challenge of running a farm in a competitive, individualistic market structure. Competition with larger, more equipped farms or corporations that can sell lower-priced produce created stress. Competition impacted information sharing between farmers.

Difficulties accessing start-up capital and land in the current economic system was another source of stress: "And so I am also single, and I'm also of femme identity. And so those, and of Latinx origin, and so those are a couple strikes against me in terms of would I qualify for a bank loan?" For those participants renting or leasing land from landowners, conflicts with the landowners were common among our sample.

Participants also described the stress that comes from “wearing many different hats,” such as managing the tasks of farming, marketing, transportation, and website management. The physicality of the job was also reported as a stressor: "I'm pretty much one accident away from (chuckles) stopping everything that I like to do, so, and going bankrupt. So yeah, that is something that's stressful, for sure." It was common for interviewees to work 80 to 90 hours a week to complete farm tasks. This left little to no time for family or friends during the farm season, sometimes resulting in strained relationships:

“They [family] kind of understand now that, you know, they're not gonna see me during the summer unless they come to market or come over to the farm to help.”

“Yeah, it's very stressful. I am a woman, so I have children. I am (pause) whether I want to or not, children need their mom, like, I breastfed both my kids, I had to pump milk in the middle of the workday, that was very challenging, because I was always like, dehydrated, and I definitely struggled balancing motherhood and farming.”

Interviewees described a sense of disappointment and disbelief in the financial reality of farming. Most described maintaining off-farm employment for financial security, which took away from their time and ability to get work done on the farm. They also described the high cost of health insurance and medical care as a source of stress; the high cost of healthcare was motivation for maintaining off-farm employment.

• Discrimination and inequitable access to resources based on social identity and marginalization. Participants described microaggressions, not feeling seen, disparate social support, or not being trusted or taken seriously as a farmer due to their identity as a woman, queer person, or POC.

"Being queer and non-binary, for some people in the farming community requires a lot of like explanation. And I don't necessarily always feel like the level of safety of, that I, I would like to feel like I can engage in those like conversations."

"Majority of the time when you look at who owns the land, and who are the current farmers, and who are selling at the markets, it is a white male-dominated space. And so it's hard for say, like, even a femme farmer, to get into that space, even a white femme farmer, even a Latinx femme farmer, a black femme farmer, like how many black femme farmers do you know, right?"

• Gaps in social support. Interviewees described social isolation and loneliness as a source of stress, especially in the context of COVID-19. Feelings of alienation and underappreciation were also expressed. Participants discussed the notion of farmers not being valued and farming not being respected as a career path: "We as like a culture are so alienated from our food system, there really isn't an appreciation or respect for where our food comes from." They also described inadequate informational support, especially for their unique type of farm model (i.e., alternative or small-scale agriculture):

“It seems like I'm always reinventing the wheel. In other words, you know, maybe someone has developed a practice, and it's worked very well for them. But it's hard to get that information from them, even when you ask.”

“Because what we do is so specialized, even in the livestock world, like all of the extension spreadsheets for calculating your costs are based on a really different model.”

• Differing perspectives of social justice as a stressor. Participants had varying responses to the prompt about social justice-related stress. Some shared that it is not at all a source of stress: “I don’t know that it affects me too much.” and “In some ways, I’ve put my worrying about that on pause until we have land.” Others connected social justice with a desire to serve a more diverse customer base than they are currently serving. Sustainable food is not equally accessible to everyone. Some mentioned land theft from indigenous people: "Understanding the privilege that my husband and I have as inheriting land and being white people living on land that was occupied by Native Americans and land that was stolen. Yeah, that really sucks. That feels really awful." Others connected the question to increasing inclusion and diversity within the agricultural community (i.e., creating more inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ and POC farmers). Lastly, other participants expressed concern for social justice issues but felt frustrated that they did not have sufficient time for social justice causes: "Main feeling is helplessness, really. I don't know what the hell I could do to make things better other than just… trying to make this little corner of the world as nice and welcoming as possible."
• Mixed perspectives regarding climate-change-related stress. Participants had mixed perspectives regarding weather and climate change. Most participants identified weather as a source of stress, but many did not identify climate change, specifically. Some were not concerned with climate change, “I don’t see it as too bad of a thing,” while others described it as a major stressor. Other participants decided to stop worrying about it because “climate change is not something we can control.”

Qualitative data analysis is ongoing. We are currently analyzing the qualitative interviews to understand how interviewees conceptualize social sustainability as beginning farmers. Results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Preliminary categories include 1) enhanced social safety nets, 2) land access, 3) community support and education, 4) equity, and 5) collaboration.