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Putting on Your Oxygen Mask: Mental Health is Essential to Caring for the Farm and Farm Family

As a pig farmer, taking care of your animals, farm and family is always top-of-mind. But it’s equally important to prioritize your well-being. Caring for yourself means managing stress and recognizing when to seek support.

Mental Health in Agriculture
The upcoming holiday season can house a lot of feelings for the agricultural community. Farmers are hardwired to prioritize the wellness of those around them, especially when it comes to caring for and tending to the needs of animals that help feed the world and ensure food security. However, it is equally as important for farmers to prioritize their own wellness.

Mental health and physical health depend on each other. And, often, farmers can help one another identify when their mental health may need a check-up.

Tips for Mental Health and Wellness
It is crucial for farmers to check in with themselves and others during trying times like the present where the pork industry is facing one of its most difficult periods.

The following Q&A with AgriSafe Network, a non-profit organization representing health professionals and educators to reduce health disparities among the agricultural community, helps remind all of us about the importance of mental health and shares resources that can support agricultural communities.

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Dr. Troy Rowan sits down with CLEAR Conversations host, Tracy Sellers. Dr. Rowan was a featured speaker at the 2025 State of the Science Summit at UC Davis. The event will return next year on June 16-18, 2026, continuing its focus on advancing livestock methane research and collaborative solutions.

Rowan, now an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, grew up surrounded by cattle on his family’s Charolais operation in Iowa. His family has been farming and ranching there for more than a century — long enough for the rhythms of agriculture to get in his blood.