Keeping Mental Health A Priority In The Field This Spring

Apr 12, 2019

Planting this year's crop can be an exciting time of year, but it doesn't come without its challenges.

Farmers are subject to lots of uncertainty, whether it's watching the markets and trade tensions, the weather, or family trials.

Do More Agriculture Foundation co-founder and farmer, Lesley Kelly, says long hours on the tractor this spring can lead to mental exhaustion.

"Physical and mental health are very, very closely connected," she said. "So whether that's getting enough sleep, taking the time to even during seeding take a five minute stretch on the tractor, or going outside and doing a little bit of a run around the tractor, those things can help get the blood flowing."

She says, farmers should also be caring for their mental health by maintaining social relationships such as visiting with neighbours, friends and loved ones who are able to listen to you.

"If a farmer is going through a hard time, please raise your hand and ask for help. If you see someone struggling, please listen to them. If necessary, please seek the help of a professional."

For more mental health resources you can visit their website.

Source : Discoverairdrie

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.