Utah Farm Bureau Gearing Up for May, Mental Health Awareness Month

May 01, 2024

Studies show that farmer suicide rates are several times higher than the national average. Jessica Cabrera, managing director of member engagement with the American Farm Bureau Federation, says mental health among farmers and ranchers is an important topic.

"There are just so many unpredictable experiences in farming, experiences such as natural disasters, lots of financial uncertainty, fluctuating markets, labor shortages, trade disruptions. There's so many factors that contribute to extreme stress for farmers and ranchers," Cabrera said. "And they also often live in a very isolated setting, which can compound the issue. I think it's really important to break the stigma around mental health challenges."

If you or someone you know is struggling, the Farm State of Mind website has many resources to help.

"You'll find a national resource directory that is searchable. You'll find helpful tips like how to help someone in emotional pain or how to start a conversation with someone. We have videos, including video and radio public service announcements," Cabrera said. "We have a peer-to-peer support community resource called Togetherall. That resource offers a space for farm family members ages 16 and older a way to express themselves anonymously and to receive and give peer support."

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Video: Seeing the Whole Season: How Continuous Crop Modeling Is Changing Breeding

Plant breeding has long been shaped by snapshots. A walk through a plot. A single set of notes. A yield check at the end of the season. But crops do not grow in moments. They change every day.

In this conversation, Gary Nijak of AerialPLOT explains how continuous crop modeling is changing the way breeders see, measure, and select plants by capturing growth, stress, and recovery across the entire season, not just at isolated points in time.

Nijak breaks down why point-in-time observations can miss critical performance signals, how repeated, season-long data collection removes the human bottleneck in breeding, and what becomes possible when every plot is treated as a living data set. He also explores how continuous modeling allows breeding programs to move beyond vague descriptors and toward measurable, repeatable insights that connect directly to on-farm outcomes.

This conversation explores:

• What continuous crop modeling is and how it works

• Why traditional field observations fall short over a full growing season

• How scale and repeated measurement change breeding decisions

• What “digital twins” of plots mean for selection and performance

• Why data, not hardware, is driving the next shift in breeding innovation As data-driven breeding moves from research into real-world programs, this discussion offers a clear look at how seeing the whole season is reshaping value for breeders, seed companies, and farmers, and why this may be only the beginning.