The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler’s Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention and Education (SW Ag Center) has partnered with the AgriSafe Network to assist farmers and ranchers. Jointly, the SW Ag Center and AgriSafe submitted an application to the United States Department of Agriculture to establish a stress assistance network for farmers and ranchers. Their joint application was recently announced successful, granting UT Health Science Center at Tyler $48,000 for this one-year project to create the Southern Region Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (S-FRSAN).

Including the SW Ag Center and AgriSafe, a coalition of eight partner organizations from southern states will join forces to respond to farmers, farmworkers and ranchers under stress, creating S-FRSAN. This alliance aims to establish a network throughout the southern United States that connects individuals who are engaged in farming, ranching and other agriculture-related occupations to stress assistance programs. The establishment of a network that assists farmers and ranchers in times of stress will offer a conduit to improving behavioral health awareness, literacy and outcomes for agricultural producers, workers and their families. The group seeks novel implementations that will allow alignment with the multitude of stressors experienced by farmers and ranchers.

“Stressors within the realm of agriculture can vary,” said Amanda Wickman, SW Ag Center program director. “Therefore, resources to assist in stress reduction should be innovative yet flexible at the state and local levels.” Wickman continued her comments, explaining that work accomplished in the next 12 months will put the multidisciplinary coalition in a prime position to compete for future funding.

The SW Ag Center is well equipped for the task, serving Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas in related capacities since 1995. Established as part of a program initiative from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the SW Ag Center is part of a network of centers, funded on a competitive basis, that conducts programs of research, prevention, intervention, education and outreach designed to reduce occupational injuries and diseases among agricultural workers and their families. AgriSafe also brings applicable experience for the project. As a nonprofit national organization, they serve to represent health professionals and educators who strive to reduce health disparities found among the agricultural community.

Organizations interested in partnering with this new network are encouraged to contact Natalie Roy at [email protected].