As the backbone of Georgia’s No. 1 industry, farmers face insurmountable pressures that are often beyond their control. Increased input costs, market variability, environmental disasters and labor shortages are just a few of the challenges. The 2023 Farm Stress Summit, held at Mercer University this week, brought leaders from around the state to learn more about the unique stressors farm families experience and strategies for building a network of support.

The data revealing farmers’ mental health challenges is sobering to say the least. Faced with unfavorable weather, unfriendly economic conditions, labor shortages and more, farmers of all types often cope with the pressures of their profession in unhealthy ways, including considering suicide.

At the same time they were building clinical capacity, the University of Georgia's CARE team was developing a curriculum to educate communities and health care providers about Alzheimer’s and dementia prevention and the need for diagnosis. To help get that curriculum in front of rural communities and providers, they turned to experts at UGA Cooperative Extension.

Mental Health Day at the Georgia State Capitol will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Jan. 31, to raise awareness of mental health issues and allow mental health advocates to share their insights with lawmakers. The event is an opportunity to increase awareness about mental health and health services, especially for those in rural areas, according to University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agent Jennifer Dunn.

Farmers are tough. They work long days at physically demanding, often dangerous work and rarely get a break, much less a vacation. Months of hard work can be wiped out with a few days of bad weather, and they battle nature at every turn, from drought and floods to weeds and insects.

University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agents throughout the state have been hard at work improving health in their communities through the Well Connected Communities program. A nationwide initiative developed by the Cooperative Extension System and the National 4-H Council, Well Connected Communities is designed to identify and address systemic health inequities at the local level.

More than 60 million Americans and 1.5 million Georgians live and work in rural communities and value being members of small communities, but access to health care and treatment is challenging in areas where doctors and hospitals can be far from home.

Vaccines are a proven benefit in the world of animal science. Producers have vaccinated livestock and pet owners have vaccinated dogs and cats for decades. Soon beekeepers may be able to protect their colonies through vaccination. The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Dalan Animal Health have teamed up to advance the world’s first honey bee vaccine.

Competitors at the Georgia 4-H State Horse Show reined in the awards at the Georgia National Fair Grounds in Perry. Held from June 7 to 11, the event welcomed 129 contestants who competed in five main disciplines including stock seat, ranch horse, hunt seat, saddle seat and contest events. The theme of the 2022 show was “Stirrup the Fun.”