{"id":431,"date":"2023-06-26T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/?p=431"},"modified":"2023-06-25T10:44:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T14:44:49","slug":"anna-are-you-a-witch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/2023\/06\/anna-are-you-a-witch\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna, Are You a Witch?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cAnna, are you a witch?\u201d  The question took me by surprise. I was at the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Growers conference talking about farm stress, and one of the growers asked me this at our booth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExcuse me?\u201d I replied, feeling really puzzled and a tiny bit offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued \u201cBecause unless you\u2019re a witch and can control the weather, you can\u2019t do anything about my stress.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Oh\u2014right. In farming there are so<\/em> many things outside of a producer\u2019s control\u2014weather, input costs, commodity prices, regulations, labor\u2014how can anybody possibly manage stress with all these unpredictable stressors?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are<\/em> things under our control<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s true that there are lots of things that can\u2019t be controlled. BUT there are lots of things that can <\/em>be. We just need to remember two things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, no one has to do this alone. As the stressors come, consult with Extension agents to get the latest science on what to do during times of drought, disease, or pests. Talk with other producers you trust to problem-solve and think through current conditions. Scientific knowledge and experiential wisdom are there for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, remember that while you can\u2019t control stressors, you can<\/em> control what stress does to your body and your mind, and manage stress so that it doesn\u2019t kill you. Heart attacks, depression and suicide, stroke, broken relationships, high blood pressure\u2014stress can cause all of these. Fight stress just as hard as you fight weeds, southern corn rust, root knot nematodes, or avian influenza. Farmers are fighters. Fight stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fight stress and stay SAFER<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It just takes a couple of minutes to make sure you fight stress and protect your physical and mental health. Think about staying SAFER:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get enough S<\/strong>leep\u2014it will help you stay clear-headed if you can get 7-8 hours a night;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be A<\/strong>ware of your stress level\u2014sometimes stress becomes so common you don\u2019t even notice it\u2014how can you fight it if you don\u2019t notice it\u2019s there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

F<\/strong>ocus on the things to be grateful for\u2014remember the good things you have, like family, friends, faith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E<\/strong>at well and drink enough water\u2014fresh food and 64 ounces of water a day make a big difference<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R<\/strong>each out and talk to people you trust\u2014don\u2019t suffer with stress in silence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, there are no witches or magicians to control stress. But reminding yourself to be SAFER could be the magic spell you need to fight stress and thrive on the farm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnna, are you a witch?\u201d  The question took me by surprise. I was at the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Growers conference talking about farm stress, and one of the growers asked me this at our booth. \u201cExcuse me?\u201d I replied, feeling really puzzled and a tiny bit offended. He continued \u201cBecause unless you\u2019re a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":437,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions\/437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}