Fort Valley State University’s Cooperative Extension personnel recently participated in the 2025 Farm Stress Summit held in Statesboro, Georgia. The event took place at the Georgia Southern Center for Professional Excellence.

The Farm Stress Summit is a one-day workshop where community leaders, healthcare providers, non- profits, county officials and faith leaders connect to develop partnerships to support farm families and develop best practices for assisting farmers with mental health challenges. The 2025 summit is the fourth gathering of this group. 

This event was attended by more than 130 Georgia farmers and professionals representing the  University of Georgia (UGA) Cooperative Extension Service, the Mercer University Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center, the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the Georgia Farm Bureau, the Georgia Agricultural Awareness Alliance, the Southern Ag Exchange Network (SAGE) and other agricultural partners. 

Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper and Commissioner of the GDBHDD Kevin Tanner, shared remarks and provided observations from across Georgia. The goal was to develop solutions to help farmers combat stress and to collaborate across agencies to develop strategies.

Mark Latimore, Jr, Ph.D., associate dean for Fort Valley State University’s Cooperative Extension Program attended the summit with ChaNae Bradley, senior communications specialist for the Agricultural Communications Department.

Bradley was invited to serve as a post-disaster recovery group table facilitator. She led a small group discussion about post recovery from Hurricane Helene with farmers, mental health professionals and support groups

“It was a good discussion where I was able to hear testimonials directly from those impacted by Hurricane Helene. It was eye-opening to learn how both mental health professionals and farmers were impacted and are still recovering from this disaster. It is also interesting to see how communities came together and the efforts that are being made to mitigate challenges in the future,” Bradley said.

Her involvement with this work stemmed from a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant awarded to UGA Extension where FVSU Extension is connected as a collaborator. 

“A year ago, I connected with Anna Scheyett, Ph.D., coordinator for the University of Georgia’s Cooperative Extension Behavioral Health Team, to develop a focus group where we interviewed farmers about stress and suicide. From that research we presented a breakout session called Stress Management Help for farmers at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC) in 2024. Currently we are developing co-branded resources for both Extension programs to disseminate among farm populations,” Bradley said. 

Latimore said there are many stressors that farmers face daily. He said Cooperative Extension is here to help. 

“Extension is that outreach arm from the universities. We provide information to growers to weather the storms they currently face,” Latimore said. 

In the future, Latimore hopes to host a summit on FVSU’s campus and provide literature for farmers and professional contacts.