Connecting Oklahoma agriculture with mental wellbeing resources
Agriculture is a great way of life, but it is not without its own stresses, anxieties and trials
Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s Cultivating Healthy Minds program is a four-part series connecting Oklahoma’s farmers, ranchers and residents with professionals and resources to help them assess mental wellbeing in friends, neighbors and themselves and to address challenges to create positive outcomes for Oklahomans of all walks of life.
Four opportunities to learn and grow
Cultivating Healthy Minds is a four-part program featuring three online webinars in the months of August, September and October along with a final in-person session at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau annual meeting in November.
Each webinar begins at noon, and are open to the public. Registration is required to participate, and there is no cost to participate in the webinars.
Cultivating Healthy Minds webinar series
Friday, August 2
Featuring Jessica Cabrera
American Farm Bureau
Our promoting farmer wellness session will discuss American Farm Bureaus Farm State of Mind campaign and resources available to reduce the stigma and keep the conversation going.
Learn more about session one …
Friday, September 6
Featuring Monica McConkey
Eyes on the Horizon Consulting
Our managing relationships session will focus on strategies to help foster strong and healthy connections with agriculturalists and their family members, employees and community members.
Learn more about session two …
Friday, October 4
Featuring Dr. Shannon Ferrell
Oklahoma State University
Our final webinar topic is how Oklahomans can tackle trauma by becoming equipped to recognize traumatic experiences and approach them to create a better state of well-being.
Learn more about session three …
Farm Bureau members share their mental health journeys
Oklahoma farmers and ranchers know firsthand the struggles our agricultural way of life presents, and Farm Bureau members have stepped up to share their stories and journeys with mental health and mental wellbeing to encourage fellow Oklahomans to reach out, have the hard conversations and work to find better days through help and support.
Promoting Farmer Wellness
Session One
Webinar: Friday, August 2 • Noon
Featuring Jessica Cabrera
Watch session one:
We are stronger together and it is important to support our family, neighbors and community through all seasons of life. During this session, you will learn about American Farm Bureau’s Farm State of Mind campaign and the resources available to help reduce stigma and promote farmer and rancher mental health wellness. You will hear tips for what you can do as an individual, a county and/or a committee to keep the conversation going!
American Farm Bureau has collaborated across agriculture to create and gather numerous mental health resources to help farmers, ranchers and rural residents to create conversations around mental well-being.
Jessica Cabrera, managing direct of member engagement for American Farm Bureau, will share resources and information on reducing the stigma around mental health and the importance of promoting the well-being of farmers and ranchers.
Resources:
- Farm Bureau Farm State of Mind: okfb.news/farmstateofmind
- Togetherall: okfb.news/togetherall
- Farm Bureau Member Rural Resilience Free Training: okfb.news/ruralresiliency
- Non-Farm Bureau Member Rural Resilience Free Training: okfb.news/nonmemberruralresilience
Meet our speaker
Jessica Cabrera serves as managing director of member engagement for the American Farm Bureau Federation. In her role, she manages the development and implementation of individual member engagement programs including young farmers & ranchers, women’s leadership and promoting & education committees and programs, in addition to other project and initiatives such as AFBF’s Farm State of Mind campaign. Originally from South Carolina, Cabrera holds a BA from Clemson University and a M.Ed. in Adult Education and Human Resource Studies from Colorado State University.
Managing Relationships
Session Two
Webinar: Friday, September 6 • Noon
Featuring Monica McConkey
Watch session two:
Working with family is an incredible blessing for farm and ranch families, but it can also create unique stresses when running a multigenerational business working side-by-side.
Monica McConkey, founder of Eyes on the Horizon Consulting, will share strategies for effectively managing relationships to help Oklahoma agriculturalists foster healthy connections with family members, employees and community members.
Meet our speaker
Monica McConkey was raised on a farm and has spent the past 25 years working in the rural behavior health field providing both direct service and supervising behavior programs. She created Eyes on the Horizon Consulting in 2016 with the goal of increasing access to mental health services in underserved, rural areas while decreasing the stigma that is often attached to mental health treatment. McConkey serves as one of two Rural Mental Health Specialists in the state of Minnesota where she provides mental health services to farm families.
Tackling Trauma
Session Three
Webinar: Friday, October 4 • Noon
Featuring Dr. Shannon Ferrell
Trauma effects cast a long shadow on individuals and families from all walks of life. Even in agriculture where we are taught to “suck it up and move on,” traumatic past experiences can bubble below the surface, rising unexpectedly and having a crippling effect.
Dr. Shannon Ferrel of Oklahoma State University will share ways that Oklahomans can recognize and deal with traumatic experiences to create a better state of well-being for themselves and their loved ones.
Resources:
- OSU Extension – Farm Stress: okfb.news/farmstress
Meet our speaker
Dr. Shannon Ferrell is a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, where he specializes in agricultural law. As an educator and speaker, he has helped audiences across North America understand the fundamental legal elements of farm business management and farm transition planning, and he has testified before Congress and the Oklahoma legislature on multiple policy issues involved in farm transitions from regulatory barriers in the transition process to retirement savings for farmers and ranchers. Dr. Ferrell’s work in transition planning has shown him the importance of mental wellbeing of farm families.
What you will need to participate in the webinar series
OKFB’s Cultivating Healthy Minds webinar will be hosted on the Zoom platform. The webinars will not allow participants to see one another.
Below is a quick checklist to ensure you are ready to participate in our Cultivating Healthy Minds webinar series:
- Register for each webinar using the links on this page
- You will need to register individually for each of the three webinars
- The information we gather in the registration form will be used to contact you with details for joining the webinar, and to help OKFB staff plan the webinar
- Look for the confirmation email that includes the link to participate
- Please be sure to check your spam folder if you do not see the email in your inbox
- We will send a reminder email the day before or day of the webinar as a reminder
- Ensure the device you will plan to connect with has the latest version of the Zoom program or application.
- Zoom has a page with links to download their apps
- Ensure that you will have the necessary data connection to participate on the day of the event
- If you are new to Zoom, you can join an official Zoom test session to make sure you are ready to participate
- At the end of the webinar, you will be asked to complete a short survey
- These answers will be used by OKFB to improve our programs
- We do not share your survey answers
