Audio Recording

*Note: the section starting at 22:30 until the end is being submitted for judging. Thank you.

The submitted clip is from the February 24, 2020 episode of the Something Greater Podcast. Something Greater is a podcast from Land O' Lakes, Inc. that explores the farmer-to-fork community through a wide range of topics and guests. The ultimate goal is for listeners to understand that a connection to the cooperative is a connection to something greater. The primary audience of the podcast is the 4,000 member-owners of Land O' Lakes, Inc.; the podcast is also shared with 10,000 employees and available on all public podcast platforms. The podcast has listeners in over 1,300 U.S. cities and 50 countries around the world.

I was asked to be one of the guests for the episode titled, "The Struggle: A mental health crisis in rural America." The goal of this episode was to open up an honest conversation about farmer mental health. The episode was not only on how to recognize loved ones who may need assistance but to put these issues in context. What farmers and rural communities are facing right now are intense challenges on many fronts.

It was an honor to sit down with host Kim Olson and Glenda Gehl, Senior Director of Member Relations at Land O’Lakes to chat about signs of stress, available support, and what "something greater" means to us. In August, I had the opportunity to present QPR, suicide prevention training, at Land O' Lakes Headquarters. We were able to discuss what QPR stands for, and what we can learn from it. Farm stress is a relevant topic, and I honestly hope it remains relevant. Taking care of our mental health is always important.