Agricultural Producer Stress: Oregon Statewide Report 2021
This baseline survey project is part of a larger USDA-funded grant initiative called WRASAP (to learn more, visit the Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program website). The aim of this survey was to better understand the types of stressors that agriculture producers are currently facing, as well as what types of stress management topics and dissemination strategies they would most likely engage in. These results will help to inform future WRASAP outreach and programming.
Who were our survey respondents?
- 52 Oregonians completed the survey
- Respondents have worked in agriculture for an average of 18.6 years
- Marital status:
- Married: 44 respondents
- Cohabitating: 1 respondent
- Divorced: 3 respondents
- Single: 4 respondents
- 38% of respondents indicated someone in their household works outside the farm/ranch (from fisheries to technology, with no pattern)
- 55.1% of respondents were female and 44.9% male
- Average age of respondents was 45
- Highest level of education completed:
- Masters Degree: 6 respondents
- Doctoral Degree/Terminal Degree: 5 respondents
- Declined to answer: 2 respondents
- 8th Grade: 1 respondent
- High School Diploma/GED: 6 respondents
- Trade School/Associates Degree: 2 respondents
- Some College: 14 respondents
- Bachelors Degree: 16 respondents
Survey results
Perceived Stress Score
This survey utilized the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), a widely used psychological instrument for measuring the perception of stress. It is a measure of the degree to which situations in one’s life are considered stressful.
Perceived Stress Score (PSS) of respondents:
- Low stress (0-13): 30.6%
- Medium stress: (14-26): 66.6%
- High stress (27-40): 2.8%
Based on their PSS scores, on average, Oregon agricultural producers are experiencing a medium level of stress (average = 17.61)
Types of stressors
| Source | % who responded either ‘fairly often’ or ‘very often’ | % who responded either ‘never’ or ‘almost never’ |
|---|---|---|
| Lack of Time | 50% | 19% |
| Workload | 42% | 13% |
| Legislative Issues Related to Agriculture | 40% | 25% |
| COVID Stress | 40% | 29% |
| Production Costs | 38% | 29% |
| Family Succession | 38% | 35% |
| Technology | 37% | 17% |
| Family | 37% | 27%* |
| Work/Family Balance | 37% | 27% |
| Commodity Prices | 37% | 40% |
| Weather Stress | 35%** | 27% |
| Financial Worries | 33% | 37% |
| Livestock | 31% | 56% |
| Ability to Sell Products | 27% | 46% |
| Weed Control | 25% | 35% |
| Increased Labor Costs | 25% | 42% |
| Wildfire | 25% | 48% |
| Grief | 21% | 63% |
| International Trade Policies | 19% | 44% |
| Pests | 19% | 46% |
| Physical Isolation | 19% | 54% |
| Physical Disability | 19% | 63% |
| Crop/Plant Disease | 17% | 46% |
| Social Isolation | 17% | 50% |
| Interpersonal Issues | 15% | 42% |
| Physical Injury | 15% | 56% |
| Travel | 15% | 67% |
| Cognitive/Emotional Disability | 15% | 69% |
Data illustrates that the top three stressors for OR ag producers are lack of time, workload, and legislative issues related to agriculture.
* Of the 37% of respondents who indicated that ‘family’ was a stressor, the most cited sources of family-related stress were domestic partners/spouses and parenting.
** Of the 35% of respondents who indicated that ‘weather’ was a stressor, the most cited sources of weather-related stress were wind and drought.
Stress management topics and dissemination strategies
| Topic | % who responded either ‘interested’ or ‘very interested’ | % who responded either ‘not interested’ or ‘neutral’ |
|---|---|---|
| Financial | 38% | 31% |
| Succession Planning | 35% | 29% |
| Retirement Planning | 35% | 48% |
| Sleep | 33% | 35% |
| Nutrition/Cooking | 33% | 46% |
| Parenting | 29% | 52% |
| Relationship Support | 27% | 40% |
| Problem Solving | 25% | 37% |
| Physical Activity | 23% | 54% |
| Career | 23% | 54% |
| Physical Rehab | 21% | 54% |
| Mental Health | 21% | 58% |
| Mindfulness | 17% | 58% |
| Support Groups | 17% | 62% |
| Alcohol/Drug | 15% | 69% |
| Grief | 13% | 63% |
| Tobacco/Marijuana/Vaping Cessation | 12% | 77% |
Many ag producers are interested in financial and succession planning topics. Most ag producers are not interested in alcohol/drug, grief, or tobacco/marijuana/vaping cessation topics.
In thinking about the topics from the previous question that you are interested in learning about, how would you be interested in receiving this information?
- Podcast: 16 participants
- Online, self-guided class on your own time: 12 respondents
- Online or webinar class with an instructor: 11 respondents
- Printed resources mailed to you: 10 respondents
- In-person class in your community: 9 respondents
- Online library of resources: 7 respondents
- Individual consultation: 7 respondents
- Religious/church/spiritual leaders: 7 respondents
- Face-to-face counselling: 6 respondents
- Ag-specific telephone help line: 5 respondents
- Social media: 5 respondents
- Printed resources at your local Extension office: 2 respondents
- Radio: 2 respondents
- General telephone/help line: 2 respondents
- TV: 1 respondent
- Telehealth counselling: 1 respondent
Likelihood of participation
This state report is part of a larger, USDA-funded grant initiative that also involves specific outreach and education projects. In order to gauge interest in some of the projects that have already begun, we asked ag producers throughout Oregon how likely they would be to participate in such a project if it were made available in their communities.
| Project | % who responded ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ | % who responded ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely’ |
|---|---|---|
| Learn about stress management and mental health through a brief, self-paced, online class | 38% | 31% |
| Discuss stress, health and wellness topics with someone you know well at informal events | 37% | 35% |
| Talk to a peer listener* about stress and mental health | 31% | 33% |
| Discuss stress, health and wellness topics with a representative working on behalf of your community or health organization | 29% | 42% |
| Participate in virtual, informal discussion groups | 23% | 44% |
| Participate in online or telephone counseling/therapy | 23% | 52% |
| Participate in community planning sessions to identify and address health and wellness issues in your community | 23% | 56% |
| Participate in a support group | 12% | 63% |
* A peer listener is a member of the agricultural community who is trained to listen and respond to their neighbors and direct them to available resources.
More information about the survey
For more information on the data in this report, please contact Dr. Brenda Freeman, [email protected]. Please also visit the Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program website.
This work is a collaboration between Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program (WRASAP), the University of Nevada, Reno Extension, and the Oregon State University Extension Service.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), The University of Nevada, Reno, and The University of Nevada, Reno Extension prohibit discrimination in all of their programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital and family status.