Chapter 1: Why use a farm and farm family risk and resilience framework?
S C I E N C E AN D B E S T P R A C T I C E S
To build a strong foundation on which to conduct intervention and programming means understanding how best to address stress on farms, farm families, communities, and external systems. This understanding can then provide guidance for educational programming, educational materials development, and evidence for assessing the effectiveness of interventions conducted by Extension and other professionals. Our search for answers to “how” ultimately led to existing research and theories of the stress -risk connection, resilience, and ecological systems. Conclusions drawn from the literature informed the creation of a farm and farm family risk and resilience framework socio-ecological model. This section of the guide
includes a brief overview of existing research and theories.
The science of risk and resilience provides an appropriate knowledge base that can guide educational, research, and direct service programs. Risk and resilience span the disciplines of agriculture and the natural environment, social and cultural environments and human ecology, human development, family science, health, emotional and mental health, psychology, sociology, and others.
In this section, we have included brief explanations of risk and resilience science for thinking about and taking action, addressing stress and crises with respect to the total health and vitality of farms, the individuals, and supporting the farm and the community. The research led to our conclusion that a socio- ecological approach to strengthening farms and farm families is needed.
S T R E S S O R S AN D TH E F A RM I NG P O P U L A T I ON
Farms and farm families experience ordinary and extraordinary stressors and change because of the interdependent nature of the farm family business and farm family living (Braun, 2019).
Extraordinary stresses add additional pressures to farming enterprises and threaten their future. Examples include increasing periods of drought, rain and storms, volatile markets, tariffs, and resulting falling commodity prices (Burnett, 2014; Co Bank, 2019; Dudensing et al., 2017; Kearney et al., 2014; Swayne, M. 2018; U.S. Global Climate Research Program 2018). COVID-19 is another extraordinary stressor. Both race and gender are other sources of extraordinary stress. Responses to those pressures range from dismay to distress to despair — and even to suicide — often accompanied by the onset of chronic health issues.
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