Farm Stress Summit focuses on mental health challenges among Ga. farmers
Published 4:26 pm Monday, March 2, 2026
MACON – Georgia farmers, farm family members, agricultural community members and agricultural mental health stakeholders will meet at the fifth annual Georgia Farm Stress Summit to connect communities with resources and build strong cross-sector partnerships. The event will be held on March 12 at Fort Valley State University’s C.W. Pettigrew Farm and Community Life Center in Fort Valley.
Farm families and farming communities across the state are under considerable pressure as they face challenges in their profession, including extreme weather, low commodity prices, high input costs, commercial development and land encroachment, plant and animal disease, and more. These challenges may result in negative mental health effects, including thoughts of dying by suicide, according to the Georgia Agricultural Wellness Alliance, one of the summit’s sponsors. Access to mental health services in many of the state’s rural areas is limited.
In 2022, researchers with Mercer University School of Medicine’s Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center (GRHIC), led by Anne Montgomery, Ph.D., and her students in the Rural Health Sciences Ph.D. program at the School of Medicine, published a study based on surveys completed by more than 1,600 Georgia farm owners, farm managers, farmworkers and spouses. The survey documented concerning levels of stress, negative coping strategies and suicidal ideation.
The summit’s theme this year is “Deep Roots, Strong Communities: Building Healthy Ag Networks.” It features a keynote address from AgriSafe Network Health Director Tara Haskins, DNP, RN, AHN-BC, and a panel discussion with Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Kevin Tanner.
The event also features a panel of producers who will discuss their firsthand perspectives on the challenges faced by them, their peers and their communities. Informative and interactive breakout sessions include COMET (Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory) training, farm mental health essentials for providers and ag-focused agencies, and heirs’ property.
For the first time, the summit includes preconference activities on March 11, with a two-hour informational discussion and networking session about the latest research related to farm and rural mental health, well-being, substance use disorders and safety.
A tour of Pearson Farm in Fort Valley and a Community Resiliency Model presentation of simple stress-management tools will follow.
The Farm Stress Summit is hosted by GRHIC’s Georgia Agricultural Wellness Alliance and Mercer University School of Medicine. Other members of the alliance include UGA Cooperative Extension, Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, UGA School of Social Work, UGA College of Public Health, UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Georgia Farm Bureau, Georgia Foundation for Agriculture and Georgia Department of Agriculture.
For event details and to register, visit https://gafarmstress.org/stress-summit2026/.
For more information, please contact GAWA Director John McElveen at mcelveen_j@mercer.edu.
