Access to services starts at Togetherall, a safe, clinically moderated peer-to-peer community, where members around the world are there to listen, support and give members’ mental wellbeing a boost. Through an anonymous profile, users can access a global network of peers, backed by the safeguarding of licensed clinicians overseeing the community around-the-clock. Access to the platform is available to members of a farm family aged 16 and older.

In addition to Togetherall’s global community, farmers and their families will have access to an agricultural sector sub-group to share or read others’ experiences in a safe, judgement-free zone.

“Farming is tough even on the best days. That’s why Farm Bureau has been committed to helping farmers and ranchers across the country get connected with the tools and resources they need to promote mental health and wellbeing—and to check in on their friends, neighbors and loved ones. Togetherall will help us all to do just that,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall.” It’s OK not to be OK, but it’s not OK not to reach out when you’re hurting. We are grateful for how this partnership will strengthen our rural communities and provide the support we all need.

The Farm Family Wellness Alliance is made possible through a coalition of organizations, including Farm Foundation, American Farm Bureau Federation, Farm Credit, CoBank, Iowa Farm Bureau, CHS, Land O’Lakes, National Farmers Union, 4-H, FFA, Agriculture Future of America, Togetherall and Personal Assistance Services. This coalition makes it possible to offer services to farm families nationwide and deepens the impact of an earlier pilot initiative started in Iowa with the addition of the Togetherall peer-to-peer support platform.

“Farm Foundation has been working towards the goal of improving farmer access to mental health and other wellness services for several years, with the Farm Family Wellness Alliance pilot starting in 2020 after the derecho in Iowa,” said Shari Rogge-Fidler, president and CEO of Farm Foundation. “We are pleased to have been able to bring together this coalition of farmer-serving organizations into a partnership that allowed us to expand the program nationwide and will offer so much direct and immediate benefits to American farmers.”

Togetherall also offers a range of wellbeing tools, such as self-assessments and access to additional support services through a partnership with Personal Assistance Services. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, financial health, improving sleep and more.

“Navigating the challenges of farming can be tough, and other farmers are often the only other people who can understand the unique stressors of the industry. Anonymous, safe, online peer support is a critical component on the mental health support continuum, and especially important in reaching communities such as farmers, who may otherwise not reach out for support,” said Matthew McEvoy, CEO of Togetherall. “We are thrilled to partner with the Farm Family Wellness Alliance to offer Togetherall’s online, clinically moderated, peer support community to all farmers and their families across the US.”

The landmark alliance bringing Togetherall and Personal Assistance Services to farm families represents a broad swath of agricultural organizations, illustrating the far-reaching impacts of mental health and well-being in rural America.

“Farm Credit recognizes the challenges America’s farmers and ranchers face, especially related to mental health and stress. Fewer resources exist in rural areas as compared to urban areas,” said Todd Van Hoose, president and CEO of Farm Credit Council. “This free, anonymous, and safe access to mental health support offers assistance in a way nothing has before for rural Americans. We appreciate Farm Foundation’s leadership in bringing this resource to fruition.”

To learn more about the Farm Family Wellness Alliance and the services available through the Togetherall platform, visit booth 538 at the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention tradeshow floor (through Monday, Jan. 22) or go to www.farmfoundation.org/farm-family-wellness-alliance/.

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There is a critical need to better understand how the diversity of both farms and operators interact to affect engagement with and outcomes from agricultural policy. This includes how different farmer characteristics interact with agricultural policy to shape producer enrollment and participation in government programs, the allocation of resources for producer support, program access and eligibility, as well as evaluation and reform.

Through a mix of panel discussions and paper presentations, the goal the  Agricultural Policy, Economics, and Diverse Farms and Farmers virtual conference is to: 

• Expand on the existing knowledge base of how diversity in U.S. agriculture, both of farmers and farm operations, interacts with agricultural policy
• Initiate discussion on farmer equity and inclusion in U.S. agricultural policy
• To better understand data available to explore these linkages, as well as identify data gaps
• Foster networks of researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals working on these issues

Call for Abstracts
Farm Foundation seeks submissions of research papers at the intersection of agricultural policy, economics, and the diverse characteristics of U.S. farms and farmers. In particular, we encourage submissions of papers taking an empirical approach to these issues. The papers can be based on new research or can revisit previously analyzed data with a new focus on the themes of this conference. Submissions from researchers and students from minority-serving institutions are especially encouraged.

All abstracts should be limited to 350 words and must be submitted through the online application portal by January 25, 2024.  

The conference is being organized by USDA ERS and Farm Foundation.  

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The program includes events and projects conducted throughout the year, including a mentorship with an ERS senior analyst, a research project, and participation in ag-focused forums and meetings, such as the USDA Ag Outlook Forum, AAEA’s Annual Meeting, and Farm Foundation Round Table meetings.

“This is just an incredible group of students,” says Program Manager Jenna Wicks. “Thanks to ERS’ continued generous partnership we are able to create a year of landmark opportunities for these program participants which will set them on rare footing as they enter their careers.”

The 2024 Agricultural Scholars are:

Kristiina Ala-Kokko, Kansas State University
Kristiina is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. Her research focuses on issues related to agricultural production and policy, particularly seed technology adoption, conservation agriculture, and climate change. 

Ian  Bennett, University of Florida
Ian is a master’s student in the University of Florida’s Food and Resource Economics department. His research interests are sustainability, livestock, genetics, and the connections between agriculture and healthcare.

Courtney Cooper, University of Arkansas
Courtney is a second-year environmental dynamics Ph.D. student at the University of Arkansas, specializing in local and regional food systems, primarily focusing on the Mississippi Delta region.

Elizabeth Crespi, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Elizabeth is a Ph.D. student and Center for a Livable Future Lerner Fellow at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School for Public Health. Her focus is on understanding how to support farmers in adopting sustainable agricultural practices.

Andre De Souza Coelho, University of the District of Columbia
Andre is a Ph.D. student in urban leadership and entrepreneurship, a researcher, and adjunct faculty at the University of the District of Columbia. He studies structural economics using input-output analysis to evaluate sustainable strategies, technologies, and policy implementation, now specifically investigating food systems. 

Suhina Deol, Washington State University
Suhina is an economics Ph.D. candidate at the Washington State University specializing in agricultural economics and econometrics. One of her papers examines psychological ownership effects and nonpecuniary returns to farming on water markets.

Aisling Hagan, University of Tennessee
Aisling is a first-year master’s student in agricultural and resource economics at the University of Tennessee. Her research focuses on food loss and waste reduction at the consumer-grocery retailer interface. 

Rachel Judd, Texas A&M University
Rachel is pursuing a doctorate in agricultural economics at Texas A&M University, where her research interests focus on water quality and availability in both agricultural and urban contexts.

Clare McGrady, Michigan State University
Clare is a second-year master’s student in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University. Her thesis project explores the role of sanitary and phytosanitary measures on trade balances in East Africa and the implications on producer welfare.

William McWilliams, Virginia Tech University
William is a doctoral student in the department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech University. His current research is focused on evaluating and improving the performance of current methods for forecasting food price inflation.

Matthew Melchor, Kansas State University
Matthew is an M.S. student in agricultural economics at Kansas State University. His research focuses on production livestock and animal health economics, understanding how they can be influenced by policy decisions and government regulations. 

Logan Moss,  University of Arkansas
Logan is pursuing an M.S. in Agricultural Economics with a research focus on agribusiness marketing and policy. He is passionate about advocating for producers and creating a more innovative and inclusive agri-food industry.

Mya Price, University of the District of Columbia
Mya is director of the Food Security Equity Impact Fund at Feeding America. In addition, she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Urban Leadership and Entrepreneurship from the University of the District of Columbia with a focus on urban government and political leadership.

Nicholas Reynolds, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Nicholas is a graduate student and research assistant studying agribusiness at Florida A&M University.

Olivia Richard, San Diego State University
Olivia is in her first year of the M.A. in economics program at San Diego State University. Her future goals involve a career as an economist pursuing research and policy analysis for federal agencies, NGO’s, or policy-oriented non-profits.

John Robinson, North Carolina State University
John is a 4th-year Ph.D. student in agricultural economics and Koch Foundation Fellow at North Carolina State University. His areas of interest include grain marketing, risk management, and price analysis.

Lorin Rudin-Rush, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lorin is in his first year as a Ph.D. student in agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin. His master’s research focused on food security and the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.

Tyler Treakle, Arizona State University
Tyler is a Ph.D. student in sustainability at Arizona State University. He is interested in studying tradeoffs and interactions between species conservation and agricultural productivity using econometric and bioeconomic modeling approaches.

Rebecca Weir, University of Minnesota
Rebecca is in her third year of the applied economics Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota. Her current research projects include analyzing county-level impacts from livestock consolidation in Minnesota and analyzing the impact of a collaborative on-farm advisory team on dairy farm profitability for Minnesota dairy farms.

Katherine Westerman, University of Rhode Island
Katherine is a master’s student in environmental and natural resource economics at the University of Rhode Island. Her research interests include regenerative agriculture and sustainable farm management to aid the diversification of farm products and the use of machine learning as a tool to assess agricultural policy effectiveness.

For more about each of the 2024 Agricultural Scholars and to learn more about the program at https://www.farmfoundation.org/programs-overview/agricultural-scholars/

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Farm Foundation’s Agricultural Economics Fellow program is a yearlong program for a faculty agricultural economist. The 2024 fellowship is focused on integrated systems approaches to understanding and overcoming the challenges in developing a greater understanding of how trade and sustainability are interconnected and are impacting the food and agricultural sectors in the United States and beyond. Dr. Steinbach is Farm Foundation’s fourth Agricultural Economics Fellow and succeeds Drs. Trey Malone (University of Arkansas), Amanda Countryman (University of Colorado), and Alejandro Plastina (University of Iowa).  

In addition to being mentored by staff in USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist, Steinbach in turn will mentor participants in the Farm Foundation and USDA Economic Research Service Agricultural Scholars program, among other engagements.  

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Steinbach to our Agricultural Economics Fellowship program,” says Martha King, vice president of programs and projects at Farm Foundation. “His research interests in international trade and agricultural policy set the stage for a fruitful collaboration towards advancing Farm Foundation’s ongoing work in agricultural trade and international sustainability policy.” 

Steinbach is the director of the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies and a faculty scholar of the Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth. He is also a visiting scholar and consultant at the United States Department of Agriculture. 

As part of his fellowship, Steinbach will author a Farm Foundation Issue Report. His recent work has appeared in Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, Economics Letters, the NBER Working Paper Series, and Nature Communications. 

He holds master’s degrees from Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of California, Davis. In 2018, he completed his doctoral studies in economics with the Center for Economic Research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. 

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Farm Foundation Cultivators: Students attend and present at the January Farm Foundation Round Table meeting in Hawaii and are matched with a Round Table Fellow mentor. The program is open to undergraduate and graduate students. The nomination deadline is October 23, 2023.

Farm Foundation USDA ERS Agricultural Scholars: Students participate in year-long slate of opportunities and events and are paired with a USDA ERS mentor. The program is open to graduate students in agricultural and applied economics. The nomination deadline is October 23, 2023.

Farm Foundation Agricultural Economics Fellow: This is a paid part-time faculty-level Fellowship. The Fellow will participate in year-long slate of opportunities and events, and is connected with a USDA OCE mentor. The 2024 Fellow’s work will focus on sustainability and trade. The nomination deadline is October 20, 2023.

More information on each program and the application form are available on each program’s webpage.

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The four awards recognize leaders and change makers who exemplify Farm Foundation’s mission and values. They include two lifetime achievement awards and two innovator awards: 

• R.J. Hildreth Public Policy Award  In the mid-1990s, Farm Foundation began awarding the R.J. Hildreth Award for Career Achievement in Public Policy, an award open to those in the field of public policy, through government service, as educators, or those researching agricultural policy. 
• The Farm Foundation Transformational Leadership Award This lifetime achievement award honors an individual who has demonstrated innovative and transformational leadership in food and agriculture. 
• The Farm Foundation Innovator of the Year Award The focus of this award is to recognize those change makers that are an integral part to solving some of the most influential challenges we face today in the agriculture and food industries. 
• The Farm Foundation Emerging Leader Award This award recognizes an emerging young leader who is on the trajectory to make transformational change within the agriculture and food sectors. 

Awards nominations will be accepted until October 20, 2023.  The awards will be presented to the recipients during the Farm Foundation Round Table Chairman’s Dinner in Denver, Colorado, on June 20, 2024. The nomination form, as well as a list of the 2023 award recipients and a video of the awards ceremony are available on the Farm Foundation website.

“From the long legacy of the Hildreth Award to the new suite of awards now in their second year, it is our great pleasure to be able to honor the individuals and organizations responsible for some of the most important and exciting work being done across food and agriculture through this program,” says Tim Brennan, Farm Foundation vice president of external relations.

The awards are open to any candidate involved in the agriculture and food industries. For nomination requirements and more information on each award, visit farmfoundation.org/farmfoundationawards. 

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About 75 attendees participated in the groundbreaking ceremony on Farm Foundation’s new farm campus, which was held between the iconic white barn and the legacy farmhouse. Speakers included U.S. Congressman Brad Schneider, Illinois’ 10th District, U.S. House of Representatives; Kurt Coffey, vice president of Case IH; and Dan Basse, Farm Foundation chairman. In attendance were also several members of the Casey family, who owned the centennial farm for over 140 years, some of whom also shared remarks.

Farm Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit is an accelerator of practical solutions for agriculture. The IEC, located at 31330 North Milwaukee Avenue, will be a state-of-the-art facility housing experiential learning opportunities about food and agriculture for local, national, and global programs. New programming is already underway, with the recent launch of Farm Foundation’s AG 101 Bootcamps, the first of which was held earlier in August.

“If we are going to lead the way as a nation, especially in the face of climate change, we will need to lead the way of innovation,” said Representative Schneider during his remarks. “I think that’s one of the reasons that this facility is so important.”

In sharing the vision for the Farm Foundation’s farm campus and new building, Farm Foundation President and CEO Shari Rogge-Fidler said, “The seeds of this vision were planted nearly three years ago […] We at Farm Foundation are rooted in the past as we look to our bright future. This site similarly has a rich history that will serve as a wonderful foundation for us as we advance our future through the Innovation and Education Center.”

The 4,000-square-foot single-story building will enable Farm Foundation to bring its mission to life in new and transformative ways. It will feature an immersive multi-media room, gathering space, and a demonstration kitchen to facilitate small group gatherings and cooking demonstrations. It will also be Farm Foundation’s new home, replacing the office currently located in Oak Brook.

The IEC was designed by architecture firm Kahler Slater, and JLL is managing the project, working in concert with Summit Design + Build as general contractor. Construction completion is anticipated by Q2 2024.

For further information and additional photos from the groundbreaking ceremony, please access the media kit.

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Round Table Fellows from around the country and their guests gathered to engage with each other and with thought-provoking speakers on the theme of Mapping a Successful Future for Food and Agriculture.  

The opening plenary introduced the levers of people, planet, and technology needed to map a successful future for agriculture. Keynote speakers shared what they are doing to prepare the next generation of leaders, navigate global pressures, and use technology and innovation from the farm level through to the consumer in new ways. 

Sessions on “feeding our evolving world” looked at the increasing population and pressures food banks are facing, as well as global populations who face hunger. We heard from people and organizations who are working through collaboration to continue to craft solutions from grains to dairy and more. 

Leading academics provided their insights on building capacity to overcome planetary limits. They discussed current research to navigate the various planetary pressures of land, water, weather, and climate. 

New Roles, Business Structures, and Environments

The session “Embracing New Roles for Agriculture” highlighted the many renewable products coming from agriculture, from plastics to pharmaceuticals, and the rural investments required to create these opportunities for farmers and society. Innovators and entrepreneurs shared their experiences with their unique products and services. 

“Reimagining Capital and New Business Structures” involved a dialogue from those who are pushing the envelope on creative ways to enable sustainable financing for the future of agriculture. 

A session exploring where we will farm in the future looked at opportunities to produce food in extreme environments such as no soil, no sun, and on other planets, as well as the ongoing innovations to produce plants and seafood indoors. The Round Table closed with a keynote fireside chat on the future of agriculture.  

The meeting provided ample and diverse views, allowing Round Table Fellows and others to synthesize ideas and take back new insights into their work to accelerate practical solutions for food and agriculture.  

Round Table Fellows will gather next in Hawaii in January 2024 around the theme of the business of farming.

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Dan Basse of Chicago, Illinois, president of AgResource Company, has been elected chair of the Farm Foundation Board of Directors. Basse, who will serve a two-year term, succeeds Jerome Lyman, a retired executive of McDonald’s Corporation.

“It is an exciting time for Farm Foundation as we celebrate our 90th Anniversary and look to accelerate our mission with the construction of an Innovation and Education Center on our recently purchased farm in Libertyville, Illinois,” says Basse. Furthermore, Basse says that he is looking forward to closely working with Farm Foundation CEO Shari Rogge-Fidler to accelerate people and ideas in soil health and sustainability, farmer health, digital agriculture, and market access for US farmers. “There is much to accomplished, and thankfully, Farm Foundation is blessed with a deep and dedicated board and management team.”

Cheri De Jong of Dalhart, Texas, principal owner of Natural Prairie Dairy and owner and CFO of AgriVision Farm Management, was elected vice chair of the 29-member board. Andrew LaVigne of Alexandria, Virginia, president and CEO of the American Seed Trade Association, was elected treasurer. The election took place at the board’s June meeting.

Six New Board Directors Elected

Farm Foundation is an accelerator of practical solutions for agriculture that leverages the power of collaboration between food and agricultural stakeholders to advance agriculture in positive ways. As a 501(c)(3) charity, the organization applies its non-partisan, objective approach to a suite of projects and programs aimed at addressing both emerging and persistent issues facing farmers and the wider industry.
In addition, six new members have been elected to the board: Former United States Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns; Former United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jewel Bronaugh; Michael Doane, global managing director, food and freshwater systems, The Nature Conservancy; James (Jimmy) Kinder, co-owner/operator, Kinder Farms; Cristina Rohr, managing director, food and agriculture, S2G Ventures; and Todd Van Hoose, president and CEO, Farm Credit Council.

The Farm Foundation Board of Directors is responsible for managing the affairs of Farm Foundation. Other members of the board are:
Chuck Ahlem, Charles Ahlem Ranch
Angela Caddell, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad
Steve Coulter, Koch Agronomic Services
John Foltz, The Ohio State University (retired)
David Gilmore, Deere & Company
Gregg Hillyer, Progressive Farmer
George Hoffman, Restaurant Services Inc.
Robert Jones, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation
A.G. Kawamura, Orange County Produce
Kristin Kroepfl, Quaker North America
Thayne Larson, Bestifor Farms
Brad Lubben, University of Nebraska
Klaas Martens, Martens Farm and Lake View Organic Grain
Sylvester Miller II, FMC
Nathan Rudgers, Farm Credit East
Ryan Schohr, Schohr Ranch
Mary Snapp, Microsoft Philanthropies
Mike Torrey, Michael Torrey Associates

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Selected papers to be presented at the U.S. Farm Households’ Social and Economic Needs and the Future of Agriculture Conference, September 2023

Very little is known about how household challenges impact the farm business. Directly connected to this knowledge gap is a limited understanding of the ways in which existing social programs and policies (which are specifically designed to meet these needs) may support farm sector profitability, survivability, and resilience. To help close this knowledge gap, the USDA’s Economic Research Service and Farm Foundation, an accelerator of practical solutions for agriculture, are issuing a call for papers to be submitted for consideration for the U.S. Farm Households’ Social and Economic Needs and the Future of Agriculture virtual conference taking place on September 13, 2023.  

Through a mix of paper presentations and panel discussions, the goal of this one-day conference is to:   

1) Broaden the long-standing body of work seeking to understand why, how, and which farm families are able to cultivate successful farm businesses in the face of on-going changes and the inherent instability of the agricultural sector,  
2) Initiate the scientific debate on the linkages between farm households’ social and economic needs, social policies, and farm business development,  
3) Develop new networks of family farm scholars working on these topics,  
4) Better understand data available to understand these relationships, as well as identify data gaps.  

In particular, Farm Foundation seeks theoretical, empirical, and discussion papers at the intersection of farm households’ social and economic needs, social programs and policies, and farm business viability. The papers can be based on new research or can revisit data previously analyzed with a new eye towards the focus of this conference. 

All abstracts should be limited to 350 words and must be submitted through the online application portal by July 14, 2023.  

The conference is being organized by the National Farm Medicine Center, The Ohio State University, Colorado State University, USDA ERS, and Farm Foundation.  

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