Some Times Are Tougher Than Others

This has been a long winter. Spring can’t get here too soon. For most farmers and ranchers, spring brings fresh hope. Spring brings the intense annual ritual of impregnating the soil with seeds of hope and promise. It is the harvest time of a crop of frolicking calves and lambs. The annual battle with weather and markets begins again.

For northern plains cattle producers, this spring is fraught with anxiety. They will deal with getting rid of the frozen carcasses of animals caught in deadly blizzards. The weather needs to be warm and dry to not compound calving problems for weak and nutritionally deficient calves.

This year’s feed, snow removal, heating and fuel costs plus the extraordinary wear and tear on equipment need to be tallied. Obligations have to be met. Cattle prices are inching back up from devastating lows, but hardly enough to make a dent in the bottom line. This winter has been a setback of major proportions.

How do farmers and ranchers deal with financial stress? We’ve been down this road before - drought, spring flooding, poor yields and low prices. The debt crisis of the mid-80s brought tremendous pressure on sound and solidly managed operations. How do producers cope when disaster has turned their financial prospects upside down?

Managing day-to-day responsibilities. During the winter blizzards, producers could only put one foot in front of the next and get through the day. They did what they had to do to feed and protect their livestock under terrible conditions. Tough winters call for creative management to compensate for problems caused by winter stress.

For hard working farmers and ranchers this plays to their bread and butter strengths - a trouble shooting, hard working, jerry-rigging, practical mind set that deals with the unexpected as it comes. In a pitched battle against the elements they will survive.

Financial worry. This is the part that eats people alive. Many operators depend on annual loans to help finance the high expense of agriculture. There is a long time between paydays. Each year is a gamble. Notes come due.

Why go through it? The land is in the family, the work is in the blood and the lifestyle has its special rewards. It takes a special kind of love and mentality to deal with the risks and stress of big time agriculture. The stakes are high and there are so many variables.

Positive and open communication with the lender about their situation may help alleviate concerns or anxiety about the lender’s attitude toward this crisis. Others in the same community are in the same boat. Chances are that the lender will have little choice but to work with producers to help them get back on their feet. A working relationship with the lender goes further than avoiding discussion of problems.

Emotional coping. Producers get into trouble when they withdraw socially and emotionally and keep problems to themselves. This is tempting because they are tough independent people who believe in solving problems themselves.

A crisis brings out a major test of their flexibility. The traditional answer of working harder isn’t sufficient to solve big financial problems and often creates more stress. Farmers have to think and manage their way through a crisis.

Producers need to talk about their emotions. They need to communicate with their spouse and loved ones and to reach out for help they need. Part of successful coping is gathering emotional support, getting good information and having a problem-solving orientation to problems.

Communications. During times of high stress and trauma, people need to talk. They need to have a sounding board, feel cared about and get concrete aid and ideas from others. Being angry or irritable drives away support. People should be familiar with symptoms of depression and willing to seek help from clergy, family doctors or counselors.

Their spouses need comfort and kindness more than ever. They want to feel united with their husbands in facing their troubles. What they don’t need is to be shut out, be the object of temper outbursts or have the additional worry about their husband’s emotional stability. Likewise children need to understand their parent’s stress and be treated with kindness despite their parents’ preoccupation. Government bungling and misinformation can be frustrating. Actual disaster relief is a drop in the bucket compared with what is needed. Still, it is discouraging to deal with paper shuffling when producers feel they have already been kicked around pretty hard by this winter. Displacing anger and blame in that direction won’t do much good.

Rely on such positive coping skills as attitude, optimism, self-confidence, religious faith and sense of humor. Timely diversions are also a welcome tool for getting through hard times.

Farmers and ranchers are a tough breed. They can deal with a lot of hardship. Some times are tougher than others. In the Northern Plains, this year is one of the toughest.