2026 Ag Forum Roundtable Recap

Join Penn State Extension's Farm Stress team members as they review and discuss this year's Ag Forum held in Lancaster, PA. 

Episode Hosts: Chi Catalone, Ginger Fenton, Sonya Nace, and Amber Otis

Transcript

Speaker 1: 00:01
Well, welcome back, everyone, to Real Talk Farm Stress Podcast here at Penn State Extension. We are really excited that we've been busy the past couple of weeks, but we want to give you an update of some one of the exciting events we've had recently. And so in Lancaster County, we actually got to have our next Ag Forum. And so we sort of thought we'd get together today and so break it down. And so I'm joined today with Ginger Fenton, Chai Catalone, and Amber Otis. And I'm Sonia Nace, but we're here to talk about this Ag Forum and the really awesome stuff that happened that day. So, Ginger, we're going to start off with you and you can give us a good overview of this really great event.

Speaker 2: 00:44
Sure. Thanks, Sonia. I have to thank and acknowledge our partners, first of all, and our funders. This project came about through involvement by several individuals from Penn State in the Cultivemos cohort. That's a group of extension professionals that meet monthly. And we are part of, like I said, a group that is funded through the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN), also referred to as Farsan. And through that Cultivemos group, several states in Northeast United States were able to host forums, which just like it sounds a forum, you know, it's it's a meeting that's designed to bring people together to engage them in discussions and to provide that outlet to share ideas. And it happens that ours was on the topic of farm stress. In Pennsylvania, we titled it the Ag Forum, Taking Action Together for Our Agricultural Community. Because we thought that title reflected the involvement and the responsibility, I think that's fair, the investment of so many in the ag community to be part of this, and those that support the ag community. So because we had such a diverse representation at our forum, which you're going to hear a little bit more about those attendees were, um, we decided to set the stage by partnering with the Department of Agriculture and inviting a speaker from the Department of Ag to come and give an overview of agriculture in Pennsylvania. And one of our deputy secretaries did a wonderful job with that. The next speaker of the morning was Dr. Florence Becot, who is our nationwide professor of agricultural safety and health at Penn State and this happens to be her research area. So she started us off by talking about supporting the mental health and economic viability of agricultural communities. That way, all the attendees had a nice overview, and everybody could kind of be on the same page when we started our conversations. And I'm going to turn it over to Chi to talk about what the intent was of those conversations and who was at the table.

Speaker 3: 03:15
Thanks, Ginger. We started back in October with a small planning team of extension educators that all came together from different units to think about who are the important people that we need to get to the table to make this event be successful. So we really looked at making sure we were looking into the community and inviting those community partners that are vital for the success of agricultural businesses. So we had representation from local government agencies, local social services, mental health, healthcare, health insurance, financial institutions, local conservation districts, just a really nice, diverse group of community partners who are all very invested in the success of farmers coming together to talk about what are the challenges and what are some strategies that we could do to help the farming community. So being very intentional in looking at all those different sectors across the county of Lancaster, as well as neighboring counties and critical statewide partners, too, was an important part of the planning process. And I have to say I couldn't have been happier. We ended up having approximately 75 partners show up, be present, and really give excellent contributions to the day. So I'm really happy with the level of community partnership that we had because, without that, this wouldn't be successful.

Speaker 4: 05:02
Yeah, so this is Amber just kind of chiming in with my two cents about this year's forum. This was the second year we did it. The first year we decided to hold the forum in State College just for more of a central location and a good place to start. As you heard from others, we decided to hold this year's Ag Forum in Lancaster County, knowing full well the rich heritage when it comes to farming and agriculture that that county has. They're nationally recognized, alongside with being the leading county in our state for multiple markets, certainly any sort of agricultural product sales, but livestock, poultry, cattle, and dairy, according to some of the USDA reports that are out there. And just realizing that the tight-knit communities that are within the agricultural sector of Lancaster County really made it a perfect place to hold our second Ag Forum event because we know that there are a lot of dedicated organizations, agencies, and individuals that are truly committed to not only farming today, but also how to preserve farming into the future for legacy farmers and generational farmers moving forward. And so when we looked, you know, across the state, certainly Lancaster County made a lot of sense. Unfortunately, right now, too, they are also dealing a lot with the HPAI, the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak. So they certainly are feeling a lot more stress in those poultry farms that are having to deal with mass depopulation practices and just trying to figure out what their next course is and what their next steps are when it comes to maintaining their farming practices and their farms in general. And so I just really thought that it was really a great time to bring this ag forum to this community, to these organizations to really get our thoughts collected and our collaborations together to really provide the strongest resources we can as a united front with those organizations that are located right there in the county and the surrounding area, but also just resource sharing and learning what other organizations have to offer, how we're not stepping on each other's toes, but really looking to fill where there might be some resource gaps and how we can meet those needs for those farmers that need those types of resources as they go through challenging times. And so when we talked about those sectors and the different types of people that we brought together to the Ag Forum this year, there were actually seven of them that we kind of narrowed it down into to talk more specifically about how stress affects those areas and those sectors. And so those sectors included financial well-being, health insurance, accessibility, land use and access, mental health and substance abuse, succession planning and transition, workforce development, and that disease outbreak group. And what was interesting about this year's forum was that we actually added that disease outbreak group primarily because of the current situation in Lancaster County, and realizing the need and the urgency to really share those resources that are available for farmers that are going through that HPAI issue on their farms. And so really recognizing the relevancy and how much of an urgency there was to get those resources together. So that was kind of more of an overview perspective of the Ag Forum and how it was broken down in different different groups. But I'm going to kick it over to Sonya because she was actually a facilitator of one of the groups to give her perspective on how the day went.

Speaker 1: 08:49
Thanks, Amber. Yeah, I was pretty excited to be asked to be the facilitator again this time. I had such a wonderful time with the group that I was with in Center County with the first Ag Forum. That just the thought of being able to find this group of people again who had so many resources and so much knowledge, and also those people who maybe didn't really know a lot about farming and agriculture, but they actually had stuff to bring to the table. So literally, uh I got to be the facilitator for another table of table full of people. Um and this time again, I got to work with the mental health folks who were the people who were interested really in mental health um and uh substance use uh regarding our ag community. And we were bringing extra chairs to the table. It actually worked out really, really well. Um, and so there were people from literally, it seemed like almost every sector was sort of right there at the table. And um, even people who said, I'm not sure, but I feel like I want to be here, they absolutely had things to offer. They had resources, they knew people, and I think that was kind of the whole point, right? That this this whole day we found the people who were interested in helping. We found the resources, we connected people, business cards were being passed around. It was great. So I got to um sort of mediate through this strategic doing packet and where we ask questions about what are the assets that we already have, what are the resources that we already know about? Um, what are some of the valuable building blocks that we could use to really boost mental health resources and knowledge of that mental health resources and mental wellness is so so important to offer out to the our neighbors who work in the agricultural community? That I really felt like people like the light bulb was going off over people's heads during that time. And it was absolutely so much fun to watch. We came up with some really cool choices of things to do, um, these brainstormed ideas that the group really felt that were doable, very simple things to let people in agricultural, whether it be a farm owner, whether it be uh a farm laborer, to know that they're not alone, that those mental health resources are available and quickly available. We uh talked about developing wallet cards, talking about how to attend wellness expos, um, and how how many people could actually do those things. And surprisingly, a lot of them could. Um, they even talked about creating a video clip and a specific message for that sort of central area around Lancaster County, those counties that even border the county. So it was pretty awesome. We're actually going to be meeting up again to sort of work through these goals. And I don't know, but I was pretty excited to be part of it and um just really knowing that in some way we all work together towards the goal of making sure our agricultural community, our neighbors in agriculture know that they're not alone, that even though the times are really, really stressful and the stress may come and go, there are things that everyone can use to help out. And really doing that check-in with each other. Um it's just it was a really great experience. So thanks you all for getting me involved again. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 3: 12:27
We appreciate you being involved. And I have to say, my favorite part of the day was listening to the reporting out from the group. So they did that twice. They did that after we had case scenarios that they reviewed and brainstormed ideas and resources. And, you know, that was really great to hear um all the different ideas that came out of reviewing the case studies. And then um it got really exciting then in the afternoon when we got to the strategic doing, where each, as Sonya explained, each table was tasked with brainstorming ideas, but then really narrowing down and focusing on that one big, easy idea. So something actionable that they can tackle and can have an outcome within 90 days. So, you know, it's we really want to be able to see actionable outcomes come from this forum. And the ideas, just like last year's forum, um, amaze me. They were exciting. I can't wait. We're meeting again in the second week of April with all of the chief doing officers. So each uh table was asked to have a chief doing officer that really keeps in touch with that group to make sure they keep that momentum up that's uh developed at the forum. And so they'll have a report out. Um, we'll check back in, we'll keep working with them, and then we'll do some, of course, some evaluation where we reach out to the participants and send out the evaluation. But uh really exciting to hear some of the really cool ideas. So stay tuned. Um, you might see some really cool things that come as a result of the forum.

Speaker 1: 13:58
So we want to thank everyone for joining us today. Stay tuned for our next Farm Talk Real Stress podcast here from Penn State Extension. And ladies, thanks for joining in today. Uh, this is great info, and I'm excited to see where it goes.