Seeking Family Farm Member Stories

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With market changes and increasing economic pressures, farmers continue to face stress with few directions to turn for help. Researchers at the University of Tennessee are looking for family farm members who are willing to share their stories about farming in today’s world.

The School of Communication Studies and The Institute of Agriculture are working together gather information to help Tennessee agencies better serve farmers during these stressful and challenging times. The research project builds on being done by the Tennessee Farmer Suicide Prevention Task Force, and USDA Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network to actively assist and aid farmers in managing stress. Summaries of farmer experiences will be shared with key agencies in order to improve programming and services for Tennessee farmers.

We are asking anyone willing and interested in sharing to contact us for a conversation about communication and stress in your family farm – all questions are optional. Anyone currently working either full time or part-time on a family farm with your parents or siblings, who are 18 years or older, and who are willing to share your thoughts and experiences is welcome to participate in this research project. As a gift for your time we are offering a $25.00 Visa gift card to all participants.

Conversations will take no more than 2 hours and are confidential. The conversation will be held virtually through Zoom, a videoconferencing tool, and participants will be emailed their gift card after completing the interview. More than one member of each family farm is able to participate.

More information about the project is available by contacting us: Emily A. Paskewitz (School of Communication Studies; UT) at (865) 974-1171 or epaskewi@utk.edu.

We know farming is tough in today’s world, and a lot of people do not want to listen – but we do.