You’ve been hearing us talk a lot about healthy ways to manage your stress, thanks to the Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team. They also host a podcast called Tools for Today’s Farmers.
One of their recent guests was Indiana ag leader Julia Wickard, Executive Director of the Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association and Constituent Liaison with the Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine.
Julia had previously served twice as Indiana’s Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency. She was also Assistant Commissioner and Agricultural Liaison, as well as Director of Government Affairs for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).
Throughout her busy career, Julia has also had another full-time job helping run her family’s farm. She and her husband Chris are the owners of Wickard Livestock in Hancock County, where they raise Angus cattle and Boer goats. She also jointly manages McClarnon Stock Farm, with her mother and sister, both in Greenfield. Julia also has two children, Jordyn and Jacob, who are students at Purdue University’s College of Agriculture.
What advice does Julia give when it comes to managing your stress?
“I think about ‘balance’, because at the end of the day, it’s about trying to find that balance between work and your personal life,” she says. “But in agriculture, they blend and come together, so the separation isn’t always there, so I think you just have to be really intentional to know when you have to to step away.”
Julia also says you should seek out help and talk to someone you trust if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
“To me, your mental health should be treated the same way as your physical health,” she says. “With the advent of telehealth options, you don’t have to walk into a doctor’s office, but maybe you can talk to someone in a more certified role that can help you work through a situation so you don’t feel like you’re having to go knocking on someone’s door. The door can be open for you with programs like telehealth.”
On the flip side, she says you don’t have to be a trained counselor to help someone else who is having a difficult time managing their stress.
“If someone comes to you, just listen and don’t talk. Figure out what is it that you can bring to the table to help them navigate what they’re going through,” she says. “Many times, I don’t have the expertise, but we can figure out how to find the expertise for someone. Sometimes you can just tell that someone just needs to talk and they just need to be heard.”
You can hear more from Julia Wickard in the Tools for Today’s Farmers podcast. It’s part of the Hoosier Ag Today Podcast Network in the free HAT mobile app and at HoosierAgToday.com.
For more information about the Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team, visit Extension.Purdue.edu/FarmStress.
If you or someone you know is currently experiencing thoughts of suicide, or a mental health or substance use crisis, please call 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and speak with a trained crisis specialist 24/7.
CLICK BELOW for Hoosier Ag Today’s radio news report:
CLICK BELOW to listen to Julia Wickard as a guest on the Tools for Today’s Farmers Podcast—Presented by the Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team.
