Protecting the Minds of Rural America with Jeff Winton

Rural Americans are some of the most tenacious and giving individuals on the planet. While many of us identify as farmers and ranchers on a level far exceeding that of many “normal” careers, that devotion can come at a cost when it comes to managing the challenges associated with feeding the world.   

On today’s episode we invite you to take a seat and join the conversation as we chat with Jeff Winton, founder of Rural Minds, about the need for a focus on mental healthcare in rural communities and how his organization is networking to make that happen. 

A huge thank you to Vermeer for their sponsorship of this episode. 

Additional resources:
Rural Minds
Webinars with Rural Minds
Rural Mental Health Resilience

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Transcript

Lynsey McAnally (00:19):
Angus at Work, a podcast for the profit-minded cattleman. Brought to you by the Angus Beef Bulletin, we have news and information on health, nutrition, marketing, genetics and management. So let's get to work, shall we?

Hello and welcome back to Angus at Work. Rural Americans are, in my opinion, some of the most tenacious and giving individuals on the planet. And while many of us identify as farmers and ranchers on a level far exceeding that of many "normal" careers, that devotion can come at a cost when it comes to managing the challenges associated with feeding the world.

I'm Lynsey McAnally, and on today's episode, we invite you to take a seat and join the conversation as we chat with Jeff Winton, founder of Rural Minds, about the need for a focus on mental healthcare in rural communities and how his organization is networking to make that happen.

But, before we begin, we want to take a moment to thank Vermeer for their sponsorship of this episode.

Sponsor (01:19):
Hi, I'm Jeff Monk. I'm the branch owner McLehaney Equipment Co., Rison, Ark. I've been running Vermeer equipment for about 30 years. The MC105 is the answer to my operation. We're really proud of the cut quality we're getting out of this. We run it alongside the competition's mowers and you can see a noticeable difference in the cut quality.

Lynsey McAnally (01:46):
Listeners, we invite you to visit your local Vermeer dealer or go to vermeer.com to learn more. But, now, let's dive in.

Welcome to Angus at Work. I'm your host Lynsey McAnally and today we're here chatting about something that likely hits closer to home than many of us realize. Rural Minds is an organization I connected with at CattleCon24, and I am very pleased to welcome founder Jeff Winton to the podcast. Finally! Jeff, if you don't mind, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?

Jeff Winton (02:25):
Yes. Well thank you, Lynsey. We're thrilled to be having this conversation today. So my name is Jeff Winton. I'm the founder and chairman of the Board of Rural Minds. Rural Minds is a 501C3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to focus solely on the 46 million people who live in rural America and advocate for mental health equity which is a huge problem in this country. I'm also a dairy farmer from upstate New York where many generations of my family have been dairy farmers. I'm speaking to you today from my horse farm in Kansas where we also breed and show Saddlebred horses. And so I am kind of wearing two hats today: not only as a mental health advocate, but also as a farmer. So I'm delighted to be here and have this very important conversation, especially this month, which is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Lynsey McAnally (03:29):
And that segues so well into my next statement, which is we at the Angus at Work podcast and the Angus Beef Bulletin wanted to make sure that we touched on this topic during May. I think mental health can be such a heavy topic for a lot of families to bring up, a lot of individuals to bring up. And so as part of our list of things that we've talked about over the last year, we had identified mental health and transition planning as something that we wanted to put a focus on. So this month in particular, it makes this episode very timely. Can you share with us a little bit of the story behind the founding of Rural Minds?

Jeff Winton (04:07):
The founding of Rural Minds is very much a personal family story and it's a result of a tragedy that happened in my farm family. So back in 2012, my oldest nephew was getting married and he was also a dairy farmer. It was a beautiful September day. Our farm is on Lake Erie, not too far from the Canadian border. So the grapes were starting to ripen, the corn was getting ready to be harvested for silage for our cattle, and my nephew, Todd Jr., was married that day. So it was a mountain top experience for my family. Something we had been looking forward to. And as I was leaving his wedding reception that night, his younger brother, Brooks, who was a big strapping dairy farmer himself, came up to me, grabbed me as only Brooks could do, gave me a big bear hug and said, "Uncle Jeff, I just want you to know how much I appreciate you and everything you've done for me and my family." Brooks had 3-year-old twins at the time.

And so I didn't think anything about it. The next day rolled around. Dairy farmers get up at 5:00 in the morning and you have to get the cows fed and cows milked and everything else. And so the next day, two days after the wedding is where the story really begins. I was doing my rounds at that point. We had three different dairy farms in New York. And so I was going from farm to farm just to make sure everything was okay. And as I was leaving the third farm to head back to my farmhouse, which is on the main farm, I approached my nephew's home ... I saw police cars, I saw fire trucks, I saw an ambulance. I knew something terrible had happened. And so I pulled my pickup into the driveway and I go running to the house and a woman across the road who I had grown up with came and grabbed me and she said, "Jeff, don't go any further. I just found your nephew, Brooks, in the backyard and we think he's dead."

And I'm like, "What do you mean you think he's dead, Ronelle?" I said, "I just saw him at his brother's wedding two days ago. I just talked to him yesterday. Everything seemed fine." And she said, "I went out to feed my horses this morning and I saw his body in the backyard."

Well, next thing we knew, the coroner came and sure enough, my nephew was dead. And it was just a surreal moment that will be forever ingrained in my mind and in my heart because my family's life was changed forever for many reasons when that occurred. And so my family went from this beautiful farm wedding to two days later planning a funeral for a 28-year-old father of 3-year-old twins who was also a dairy farmer. And as we were meeting with the pastor in our small town church, the pastor looked at the family and I was there as well and said, I don't know how to tell you this, but there are people in the community that don't think you should talk about the fact that Brooks died by suicide.

I've even had someone go as far as saying, maybe you should say he died in a farming accident or he died of a heart attack. And it was my mom, who was a true matriarch of the family, with tears running down her face, pounded her Fisk on the pastor's desk and said, "Pastor, this has been going on in this farming community too long. We know people have been dying by suicide. My family will not sweep this under the rug. We are going to start talking about it and we're going to start talking about it at funeral." Which is what we did. I was asked to give the eulogy at the funeral, which was not an easy thing to get through. But after the funeral was over, we had other farming families from many miles around - because my family's pretty well known in that part of New York - who were lined up to tell us their stories, stories of mental illness, stories of suicide, stories of substance use disorder, and in many cases, stories that had never been told before because they were too embarrassed.

They were ashamed because of the stigma that lies with mental illness. What happened that day? My mom unknowingly started a movement where people were finally starting to feel like, "Okay, the Wintons have been around here and are respected members of this community. If they can talk about it and are willing to talk about it then so are we."

So we started to reach out to other mental health organizations to basically ask the question, "What are you doing to address this issue for farmers, for fishermen, for mining people, for people that live in rural America?" Again, 46 million people. Not an insignificant part of our population in the United States. And every single question I asked was met with a very respectful silence and then an admission that they weren't doing anything because they didn't know anything about people that lived in small towns of 500 people like where my family lives.

They didn't know how to reach the fishermen in New England and the Pacific Northwest. And so they had focused their efforts on the urban and suburban populations, but they knew there was a growing issue in rural America. And so it was really with their encouragement that we launched Rural Minds, they said, we know there's a need. We've been doing this for a long time. If you are willing to launch a new nonprofit organization, we will be your biggest supporters. We will be your partners. We will help you get this off the ground. And so three and a half years ago, Rural Minds was launched. The reason we waited so long after my nephew's death, which again was in 2012, is we wanted his 3-year-old twins to grow up and to at least be teenagers when we launched our organization because we wanted to talk openly about suicide.

And you can't explain suicide to a 3-year-old. And so once the kids were teenagers, their mom - who has subsequently remarried a great guy - decided that the time had come. They were going to talk to the twins about what had happened that terrible, tragic, fateful evening. They knew their dad was gone, but nobody had told them the circumstances. So three and a half years ago - after that conversation took place- we launched Rural Minds and it's been quite a journey ever since. We're very proud of what we've done. But with the latest statistic I read, that every 11 minutes someone dies by suicide in this country, it's a race against time. We have so much work to do. While we're proud of what we've done already, we know we can't rest on those laurels that we need to keep pushing forward and we need to reach more and more people that are many times hidden in these small towns across this great country of ours.

Lynsey McAnally (11:10):
And I would be the first to say that rural Americans are some of the toughest people I've ever met or had the pleasure of interacting with. Talking about mental health can be very difficult for a lot of people. But I do want to just say the story behind the founding of Rural Minds and the legacy that you all have put together for Brooks, it's both heartbreaking and also just so many kudos to all of the staff behind Rural Minds for the work that you all have done to get the organization to this point. What you all have done in talking about mental health, I think has had a huge effect on the ability of other families to talk about this. We talked a little bit prior to starting this recording ... Any kind of illness, any kind of opportunity where people think that they might show weakness is often not talked about.

And instead of it being something that we don't talk about, we should talk more about the struggles that we all are going through so that it doesn't become something that's a stigma. It becomes something that we're more comfortable dialoguing with one another about. Because the likelihood of us sharing that we're struggling is higher if we are comfortable talking about those subjects. So I'm not sharing any groundbreaking thoughts with you all, but it's something that I always think about when we're talking about mental health and some of these mental health deserts that are actively happening within the United States.

I just wanted to talk a little bit about the gaps that exist and what you think are the gaps in both infrastructure as far as a mental health or just normal healthcare within the U.S. and then in particular farmers and ranchers. What they might be experiencing?

Jeff Winton (12:58):
Well, thank you and thank you for your kind comments about the work we've done. First of all, I always like to start by saying that mental health is health. We've got to look at this as a key part of health overall. But unfortunately, unlike other illnesses and diseases such as cancer, such as cardiovascular disease, such as diabetes, we are not comfortable talking about mental illness. And there's a reason it's called mental illness. It's an illness just like any of the other illnesses I just mentioned. But as you mentioned, rightfully so, those of us who are raised in rural areas, especially raised on farms, are taught to be independent, to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, not to talk about our issues, not to make people uncomfortable and to buck up and just get over what's ever bothering us. Well, guess what? If you're living with prostate cancer or breast cancer or diabetes, you can't just will that away.

You need medical intervention. And the same pertains to people that live with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, opioid use disorder, and on and on the list go. So one of the first things that we have been doing in our last three and a half years of existence is getting people to admit and acknowledge that these are illnesses. Because once people will admit that they're illnesses, they're more likely to talk about them as opposed to having people think that they're just character flaws or weaknesses that somebody should be able to get over. So that's really a big part of the journey is admitting you have an issue or somebody in the family having an issue. And as we were discussing earlier, it's important that talk about this because in many cases, various forms of mental illness run in families. There's a genetic predisposition. And certainly that was the case in my family.

But until my nephew died by suicide because he was suffering in silence as a proud farmer, my family never talked about it. We had another family member who was struggling. We were kind of watching from afar to make sure that they were okay, but we never had the conversation about what was happening. And this is all too often what I'm learning in our work now at Rural Minds is that these stories have been hidden for generations in farm families. And we need to get comfortable being uncomfortable and talking about them for the sake of the people that are currently in our families as well as future generations, knowing that there could be a genetic link that people need to be vigilant to keep an eye on. There is a healthcare desert overall in rural America. When I moved back to the family farm, when we launched rural mines, it took me eight months to get into a primary care physician ...

Lynsey McAnally (16:03):
That's just wild to me.

Jeff Winton (16:05):
Such a waiting list. Fortunately, I didn't have a health issue. If I did, I would've had to gone to the local ER (emergency room), but I was trying to establish a relationship with a primary care doctor. So if you can't find a primary care physician, you can only imagine how difficult it is finding a mental health provider. And the fact remains, 65% of the counties in this country that are considered rural have no psychiatrist. They're just not available. And many primary care physicians, in all due respect, aren't necessarily trained in the intricacies of mental health. Fortunately, they know where to refer a person to, but in some cases, especially in some of the big Western states like Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, a person may have to drive several hours.

Lynsey McAnally (16:57):
I just want to applaud all of our rural healthcare providers because in a lot of situations they have to be so many specialists rolled into one, and they're truly the gatekeeper for their patients. And I don't know where rural America would be without those entities, but the fact remains that they need more support and they need more resources to be able to refer their patients to, because you are exactly right. That is probably not their area of expertise, but they're taking that on and they're trying to find those providers and they're trying to find those resources for their patients because if they don't, who will?

Jeff Winton (17:33):
Yeah, that's absolutely right. And then to further complicate things, many rural hospitals are closing. The fact remains that many young people going into medicine are going into oncology, cardiology, women's health ... They're not going into psychiatry. So that's something else that Rural Minds is going to be addressing with other partners is how can we attract the next generation of physicians and physician assistance into practicing in the mental health space because there's a growing need and demand for it. And a lot of this starts with storytelling. That's why I always tell the story of how we were founded because it's personal. It helps to humanize this situation we find ourselves in. And I find as I travel around the country and have conversations like this, that if I open up and tell my family story, chances are that when I'm done speaking, it may not happen during the q and a, but certainly after I've left the ballroom or conference room or wherever I'm speaking, I will have a number of people come out to the hallway. And I always plan on that. I never book too many things back to back because that interaction with people is so important because something many times I say about my family's struggle and what happened on our family farm will hit a note with someone else, and all of a sudden they feel the need to tell their story. So storytelling in particular is very powerful to humanize the mental health crisis. And it is a crisis that we find ourselves in rural America. It has to start with storytelling.

Lynsey McAnally (19:20):
Many times that may have been the only time they've ever opened up about what they have been struggling with or the struggle they saw a family member go through, but the likelihood of them being willing to talk to somebody once they've opened that Pandora's box, your smiling, our viewers can't see that I am too, because I'm a talker and I try to be a listener, maybe sometimes not as much as I hope to be, but the more that we can put ourselves in the position to be a resource for those around us, you may be the only person that they have felt comfortable talking to. And I think that's a really special thing.

Jeff Winton (20:01):
Yeah, that's absolutely right. And in our work, and again, I'm not a mental health provider. I'm a dairy farmer who is a grieving uncle of someone who died because of his illness, but I try to be a sympathetic ear. And that's, as you said, rightfully so, Lynsey is what most people need. They need someone, they need one person. And you don't have to be a trained professional. As a matter of fact, the best thing to do is to sit there and listen and make sure that the person that is pouring their heart out to you knows that you have their back, that you will help them find help, but they don't expect you to give them counsel or advice because most people aren't trained in this area. But the listening part of this journey is so important and making sure that people know that they're not alone, that there are many people that are in the same situation that they are, and if they will open up to one individual, then that's the beginning of their own journey towards the return to health.

Lynsey McAnally (21:12):
When I hear you talk about Rural Minds, that's what you all are hoping to build is that network across rural America for healthcare resources. Not just for those who may be experiencing mental healthcare issue, but those who hope to be a resource for their family, friends, and community.

Jeff Winton (21:33):
Yeah, that's absolutely right. Because there is such a shortage of providers that a peer-to-peer approach is one thing that we've really been building. But as far as building our network, what we decided to do, Lynsey, before we launched this, was rather than to create new support groups and new places for people to go, we wanted to tap into where people in rural America were already going for their trusted information. And maybe it's a beef producer meeting, maybe it's a PTA meeting, maybe it's a volunteer fire department meeting. Maybe it's a Grange meeting, 4-H or FFA. There's a group of organizations that are part of the tapestry of rural America where people have been going for generations because that's where they're comfortable, that's where their neighbors go, that's where their fellow farmers go. And so we knew if we could get our content and our programming embedded into those existing organizations, we were going to have a real shot at reaching the people that we advocate for.

So that's where we've been focused on the National Grange has been our biggest and one of our first partners, the grains for those people that may not know is the largest and oldest agricultural nonprofit organization in the country, they've been around 158 years. They have 1500 locations across America, mainly in rural areas. So obviously we wanted to partner with them. And even though they've been around for 158 years, they hadn't really put much of a focus on mental health before. And so when we came along and approached them, they said, this is perfect. We've been talking about this. We need a partner organization like you that focuses exclusively on mental health issues among rural Americans. So a lot of our growth over the last three and a half years has been as a result of working with the Grange. And on our website, there's a program called the Rural Mental Health Resilience Program, and it was a partnership with the Grange where it's basically a town hall or a toolkit where people can have these conversations in their local communities, whatever the meeting might be.

I love traveling around the country and doing these myself, but there's only one of me. I'm putting a lot of miles on my truck right now and a lot of miles on my frequent flyer airline. So what we're hoping to do is to have ambassadors across this country in small towns, in farming communities, in mining communities where people that are already looked upon as the trusted leaders in that community can host these kinds of conversations because we know people will open up with their neighbors and friends because there's a comfort level there. They trust them. And so that's been a big part of what we've done building our network, is really tapping into other networks that already exist in the rural landscape ...

Lynsey McAnally (24:55):
Essentially a spider web effect.

Jeff Winton (24:58):
Yeah, absolutely.

Lynsey McAnally (24:59):
One of the things that I wanted to talk about was, prior to this conversation, I had the opportunity to go visit your website. One of the tabs that I saw on the website was just simply titled, 'I Need Help'. And I wanted to talk a little bit about that as well as some of the other features that the website ...some of the other information that's available there. But can you kind of kick it off by talking about, like I said, that singular tab that drew me in the just three words that really say it all?

Jeff Winton (25:28):
Well, thank you and we appreciate the comments about our website. We've worked very diligently the last three and a half years building a robust and relevant website. And one of the reasons we've really focused on this, Lynsey, is as we've been talking, people in rural America tend to be very independent and like to do things themselves. So we wanted to make sure that they had everything they needed at their fingertips, whether they needed it personally or they wanted to have a conversation in their family setting or in the setting of a community organization. So many of the resources under that tab are resources from other organizations, quite honestly, because we wanted to make sure that we had a one-stop shopping place, if you will, for people in rural America to go so that they don't have to go to a website on schizophrenia, another one on alcohol use disorder.

Lynsey McAnally (26:24):
There's a robust amount of knowledge out there to be had. But when you are in the depths of trying to deal with something either for yourself or a loved one that can be so heavy trying to gather all that information together. And so I just, what a simple idea, but honestly, what an effective idea to tap into that.

Jeff Winton (26:49):
Well, as you can imagine, it's one of the most widely visited sites on our website. And again, we've been fortunate to have a lot of partners who have helped us build this organization over the last three and a half years. So a lot of the materials are things that already existed, but we knew, again, with the statistic I shared, that every 11 minutes someone dies by suicide. We didn't have the time or resources to be developing a ton of new materials when the materials already existed, but we needed to categorize them and make them easy to use. And in some cases, I like to say we've even ruralized them. We've changed the visual, we've changed the language, we've made them something that will be relevant to people like you and me and other people that live in rural America.

Lynsey McAnally (27:40):
I thought it was very interesting when you brought up duck farmers on one end of New York all the way to commercial fishermen in the Pacific Northwest. There are certain things that we all share and a certain voice that we all ... that resonates with all of us. And so when you can find that and speak to people in a way that they're comfortable with, I think you are much more likely to get across to them than if we pull something straight from an academic journal and try to help people understand that. Podcasts. Webinars. Really discerning all of this information down into the fact sheets that you all provide. It helps put everything in one place and really give them the materials they need and helps them make sense of it quickly and effectively, which I don't think any person would argue is a bad thing. I very much appreciate a fact sheet, a white paper of sorts.

Jeff Winton (28:39):
And the materials are all free of charge, of course. And they're downloadable. So we know in many communities, people will go in and print off the fact sheets and post them in the local diner, the local feed mill, the local vet hospital. And so the materials are there to be utilized. And the frame of reference we always use is, if I can understand it - because I'm a pretty simple guy - then it's okay to post.

Lynsey McAnally (29:08):
There you go. I think one of the things that breaks my heart is some of the highest levels of suicide as far as professions go reside within these rural communities. I think ... whether you have heard this story or not for our listeners, there have been several stories in the media here recently about veterinarians who have struggled with mental health. And we go back to, I'm very close with our veterinarians. I have these discussions with them constantly, but the level of responsibility that they feel in their profession, that's very heavy. When you get into agriculture, when you get into, you are speaking about mining, fishing, any of those industries, it's very similar across all of them.

Jeff Winton (30:03):
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And the veterinary community is something that we're working diligently on right now. And again, on our website, your listeners will see a program we launched with the veterinary college at Cornell University, which is my alma mater, and the dean of the veterinary college said, we've got to prepare our graduates because when they go out to work on dairy farms, horse farms, pig farms, whatever type of animal agriculture they're calling on, they need to be the ears and the eyes of the community because many times the veterinarians may be the only person outside of the family that is on a farm on a fairly routine basis. And because so many veterinarians were not trained in this, which has exacerbated the suicide issue with veterinarians, but this program was sponsored by Cornell, but it was rolled out to all the vet schools across the country. And there's a free online course that Cornell sponsored that again is on our website that's geared towards veterinary students and veterinarians you mentioned earlier, there's a huge shortage of veterinarians, especially in rural areas. But the good news is 12 new vet colleges are opening across the United States in the next few years.

Lynsey McAnally (31:41):
We actually just had a graduation from, I believe the first class of large animal food animal focused veterinarians from Texas Tech Vet School in Amarillo. The idea that we are going to have more food animal vets coming in, I think is incredible what you guys have provided as far as a program. I think if they can understand and be a little bit better educated about being a resource for other people, perhaps that makes them a better resource for themselves as well.

Jeff Winton (32:11):
Very well said. And that's the purpose of this program is to look at this twofold, both for them individually, but also for the people that they care for. And as I said before, they're the ears in the eyes of the community. And so in some cases, not all, but in some cases, there are telltale signs on a farm when a farmer or farm family is in duress, people like veterinarians, like seed dealers, like feed dealers who are on the farm. Our goal is to make sure that they're paying attention to what the farmstead looks like. Because if they see this swing, whether it's gradual or sudden that they know something is going on there, and they may have to ask some very uncomfortable questions of the farmer just to make sure that he knows someone cares. And this course that I referenced before we developed with Cornell goes as far as even advocating for asking the question, are you contemplating suicide? Are you thinking of killing yourself? And the first time you ask that question, the words get stuck in your throat.

Lynsey McAnally (33:25):
I cannot even imagine ... But I would also theorize that if you are and you are in that position, how seen you would feel by having somebody ask that question?

Jeff Winton (33:41):
Someone cares enough to not only notice it, but to bring up such a sensitive topic.

Lynsey McAnally (33:47):
But having to do that, always being conscious of doing that in a very caring way. And if you don't have the background, having these resources that you all make available to folks in rural America would make you feel like you're prepared to maybe not even prepared, but maybe a little bit more prepared to ask that question. I don't know. And again, this is just me theorizing, but I don't know that I would ever feel completely prepared to ask anyone that question. But with the background and information that you all are providing, at least you would go into that with a little bit of a better foundation to do so.

Jeff Winton (34:28):
Well, my feeling is I'd much rather feel uncomfortable asking the question than attend someone's funeral. And if you look at it in that regard, you realize that you might be the only person that is brave enough to ask the question. And a lot of people don't ask the question because they don't know what to do if the person says yes.

But again, our website has a lot of materials on there about, okay, if you are anticipating somebody who's thinking of harming or killing themselves, this is what you need to do. And one thing I would be remiss, Lynsey, if I didn't mention the 988 number, the suicide prevention number that was launched three years ago in June. Any person anywhere in the country, day or night 24-7 can text or call the number 988 and you'll be connected with a live trained mental health provider that help you through your time or your family's time of trial and trouble. And besides helping you when you need someone, it can also be helpful as you continue on the journey because they will then help you find local resources in your area where you can find the mental health help you need to continue that journey. But 988 is a critical resource that has literally saved thousands, if not tens of thousands of lives in the last three years. And we're just hoping and praying that with a lot of the cuts taking place in Washington right now, that the funding is maintained because there's some question about whether or not that will continue, and it would be a real tragedy if that number went away because the funding source went away.

Lynsey McAnally (36:35):
Sure. And again, I think it's another example of having a compassionate willing ear to talk to that. I think to myself, that peer to peer is a wonderful thing, and there are many, many people that will take advantage of that, but there are always going to be a handful of folks who would rather talk to somebody that's removed from the situation.

Jeff Winton (37:00):
That's right. And they don't ask for your name, they don't ask for your address. It's completely confidential, and they will stay on the phone with you for five minutes or five hours as long as you need. And Rural Minds was part of the initial work that went into this three years ago, and it was soon after we launched, but to their credit, the government wanted to make sure that they were putting a service in place that would resonate with people in rural America as well. And so they reached out to us and we were at the table and helped make sure that this was going to be available. And trust me, I'm the kind of person that can be a little cynical at times. So before I started promoting this, I tried it. I both called and I texted.

I thought, if I'm going to be out there advocating for this, I want to make darn sure it works. And sure enough, it worked. I didn't stay on too long because I knew they probably had other people that needed their services more than I did, but I just wanted to make sure it worked. And they were compassionate, they were prompt, they were knowledgeable, and in some cases, it's the only mental health care that many people will have access to, especially if they don't have insurance, which is a topic for another day.

Lynsey McAnally (38:21):
Oh, gosh. And we talked a little bit about that prior to coming online here and starting this recording, but we also talked a little bit about the role that states are playing in, putting in place resources for the folks living both within their state and in some cases outside of their state. I know you mentioned, was it the New York Farm Network ...

Jeff Winton (38:44):
New York Farm Net.

Lynsey McAnally (38:45):
Sorry, I added an extra word in there. Goodness. But having resources where you have someone that can help with financial planning, and then you have someone who can help with the stress of working within a family, that's a very interesting dynamic that can be extremely hard to navigate. I know here in Oklahoma, we've had several people who have worked extremely hard to put together resources that are available not just to folks living within Oklahoma, though they're certainly focused that way, but it can be accessed by those outside the state of Oklahoma, both for mental health resources as well as transition planning resources. Because as we talked about, those things oftentimes can go hand in hand in a number of ways, but both very heavy topics. And I think we are seeing more states recognize the need for that and come together in some way, shape, or form to provide those resources to those living within their states. But whether it's farmer and rancher-focused or it's broader across other industries working within rural America, I think that we are going to see more usage of those resources as they become more readily available.

Sponsor (40:10):
And the collaboration is so critically important because as you mentioned, sure, there's geographic differences. Farming in Oklahoma is different than farming in New York, for example.

Lynsey McAnally (40:23):
And laws are different. Rules and regulations are different.

Jeff Winton (40:26):
Absolutely. But there's a lot of basic elements that are the same. And one can say that across all of rural America, because we've been focused more on farming and ranching because that's of course what you represent and what I represent. But rural America is much more diverse than many people think. You've got the timber industry, and I've mentioned some of the others. You've got the indigenous people, you've got the Amish, you've got the Mennonites, you've got a lot of other subsets of populations that live and reside in rural America. And so we are advocating for anyone that lives in a small town because a lot of the principles are the same. A lot of the challenges are the same regardless of what industry you might be part of in your given state.

Lynsey McAnally (41:25):
Sure. I think that goes pretty well into my next question. I'm going to kind of package two thoughts into one, so bear with me here for a second. But I mentioned in our intro that I actually became familiar with Rural Minds because I bumped into you all at National Cattlemen's Convention in 2024. What kind of role have those industry events played in getting the word out about Rural Minds as well as what kind of response have you seen from attendees at events regarding Rural Minds?

Jeff Winton (41:56):
It's a great question and it's a critical part of our mission and the work we do. So you mentioned Cattlemen's meeting in 2024. In 2023, which was soon after we launched, I was asked to come and present at Cattlemen's College as part of CattleCon.

Lynsey McAnally (42:17):
Awesome.

Jeff Winton (42:17):
And hundreds of people, as you would imagine, many of whom came up to me and talked to me not only after my session, but throughout the meeting because I stayed there as long as I could to interact with people. But these conferences are so critically important because they represent a big part of the people we advocate for. And I must say that the Kettlemans organizations, whether they're state or the national, had been very proactive in reaching out to us. I just did a meeting for the New York Beef Cattle producers a couple weeks ago, actually, and we're finding that the beef industry as opposed to some other segments of agriculture, seem to be a little more forward thinking, including the dairy industry, by the way, which pains me being a dairy farmer.

Lynsey McAnally (43:13):
We love to hear that we are forward thinkers!

Jeff Winton (43:16):
Yes. And your industry is seeing the need because so many people have been impacted, obviously, but we've been to Commodity Classic where we're working with the wheat growers, the soybean growers. We're working with the Grange, as I mentioned, cooperative extension, of course, the youth organizations both 4-H and FFA, because as I said earlier, our premise is to take our message where people are already going, where people are already knowing that they're going to get authentic, helpful, real information,

Lynsey McAnally (43:55):
Reliable sources.

Jeff Winton (43:57):
So these industry meetings are critical, and even some of the for profit companies in both agriculture and in the healthcare industry have reached out to us and have asked us to come and speak to their employees and to their dealers because they know that, again, it's a service that they want to provide to their people. So again, these organizations, whether they're for profit, nonprofit, industry, events are critical, and we're always very honored to be asked to come in and speak. I just spoke at the North Carolina Commodity Conference a few weeks ago to close to a thousand growers from the state of North Carolina, and I'm going up to Montana in December to speak to the grain growers up there. So if any of your organizations that might be listening have a need and an interest, either we were happy to travel or happy to find somebody who might be more local or to do something like this, to do an audio or a Zoom presentation as part of their meeting or their conference.

Lynsey McAnally (45:12):
As I think about how many entities like that there are across the country, it becomes more and more important to be able to reach out to different sizes of groups, different parts of the industry in different locations. Because you were exactly right in something you said a little bit earlier, there are geographic differences. There are differences amongst different segments of our industry and different parts of our rural communities, but these core characteristics are the same.

Jeff Winton (45:45):
Yes. Yep. They certainly are. Lack of access, transportation issues, insurance issues. There are many commonalities. And that's one of the things that I think are surprising to many people because farmers know other farmers, but they don't necessarily know mine workers, don't necessarily know fishermen and don't know people that work in the forestry industry. But when you get them all together, it's like, "Well, I would've never thought you had the same kind of issues."

Lynsey McAnally (46:18):
The coalition we aren't even aware exists until we have organizations like this one that bring it to the forefront. We talked a little bit about partnerships with industry, industry events and the like, but can we talk a little bit about how you either approached or began looping in your distribution partners as well as those folks who have supported Rural Minds as it begins to have this sweep across the nation?

Jeff Winton (46:50):
Yeah. Well, we are the intersection between the healthcare industry and the segments of rural America. In this case, I'll talk about would be more farming and agriculture. So when we launched three and a half years ago, we really focused on agriculture because that's my story. That's my nephew's story. That's what I know. I don't know a lot about what fishing or forestry or mining. I'm learning a lot, but I knew about farming and agriculture. And I knew we had a real crisis situation in that segment. So we created what we call the Partnership Council, where we invited people from agricultural - both nonprofit and profit companies to meet and be around the same virtual table as people from the healthcare industry. Whether it's a biopharmaceutical company, a healthcare system, what have you. And it was the first time that people from these two distinct industries had ever been brought together.

Well, once we started the conversation, you could see the light bulbs go on. It was an immediate realization that they needed to be working with other segments that were touching the same people, the same parts of the population. I use this example, I have a brother who's a farmer who lives with bipolar disorder. So he's taking medicine for his bipolar disorder, but he's also buying tractors. He's selling his milk to a local cooperative. And when you look at a person you're trying to reach holistically as a human being, not as a farm equipment purchaser or as someone who's going to take your medicine, all of a sudden you have a whole different approach and different realization. And the realization in many cases is that you need to partner with other people who are also trying to reach that individual for whatever their interests are in that rural community. This partnership council we have has grown exponentially. And if you look at it, you look like what do these people have in common? Well, they have a lot in common. And we meet quarterly, and again, we meet virtually, but it's just a really powerful conversation we have every time we meet because it gives people a different viewpoint and different insight into the challenges that people in rural America face as it comes to healthcare and mental healthcare in particular.

Lynsey McAnally (49:34):
I love that word you used, looking at people holistically looking at them as a human who has so many diverse facets and so many things that make them unique. And when we talk about those folks living within rural America, it's the same for every person across the United States, no matter where they live. But particularly I feel like in rural America, there's so many things that go into making each and every one of us unique and so many unique struggles that we go through, with challenges that we come up against. So I just think it's pretty cool to take a step back, look at the whole picture, and then figure out, okay, where do we go next? Which I think goes pretty well into one of my final questions for you, which is where do you hope to see Rural Minds over the next five to 10 years in terms of scope, in terms of services? What does that look like to you?

Jeff Winton (50:34):
Well, even though we're a small organization and rely on the kindness of many volunteers, we have grown exponentially in three and a half years, much more quickly than we would've ever imagined because we launched during COVID, and now we find ourselves into another phase where there's so much uncertainty because of all the changes that are taking place across this country due to the new administration. So we're seeing almost another phase of what we went through with COVID now happening again as people worry about tariffs and labor force and all the things that you and your listeners are very familiar with. But one thing to that point where we are getting very involved, and I never would've imagined three and a half years ago we would've been getting as involved as we are now, but it's in policy matters. It's making sure that as these decisions are being made in Washington and state and local levels, that people aren't forgetting about the people that are raising our food and fiber, because a shrinking number of people are responsible for the food chain and the fiber chain in our country now. And many politicians in this day and age, even those that come from agricultural states, may not have a real appreciation for farm life or for rural life because they're that much further removed from what we do on a day-to-day basis.

So we're working again with a number of our partner organizations that had mentioned before to make sure that as these decisions are being made and as new laws are put in place that people don't forget about us. We've been very involved in the Farm Bill, and we're just hoping, I hope I live long enough to see the thing finally pass. But two years ago, shortly again after we launched, we were meeting with a number of people on the hill to make sure that what's being done in substance use disorder, what's being done in expanding telehealth and broadband access was captured and encapsulated into the farm bill, which it is. But now we just need to get that approved so that we can get some of these valuable resources. So I would say we're going to continue to have a voice and a place at the table from a policy standpoint, but we're also going to continue to expand to other segments of rural America.

I mean agriculture and farming because it's my heart, it's my life, it's my family's story will always continue to be a key part. But we need to now be looking at these other segments that we've talked about and making sure that those communities aren't left behind and that they also have people advocating for them. There is no shortage of work to be done. We need each and every person. We need the contributions that many individuals make to Rural Minds and many companies. But we also need ambassadors. We need advocates that are out there that are utilizing our materials and carrying our messaging forward that are holding local meetings. You mentioned some of these meetings may only have 20 people show up. I did a meeting recently where one person showed up and it was because it was a massive snowstorm, and I was surprised one person showed up, quite honestly ...

Lynsey McAnally (54:16):
Where there's a will, there's a way.

Jeff Winton (54:18):
That's right. And it was a topic very important to this person. And the organizers were apologizing to me because it took me quite a while to get to the meeting. It was in person because of the blizzard we were having. And I said, if we reach one person, I am more than happy to drive whatever distance I have to drive because I know that person has been motivated to be there for some reason. And I know that that's another ambassador we have who has now heard our message of hope and help that can take that back to their family and their community. So it's not about quantity, it's about just reaching people regardless of the size of the audience.

Lynsey McAnally (55:02):
Just such a sweet story in what you all are doing in rural America. And I want to say thank you for joining us today and I want to give you the opportunity to tell me if I had forgotten anything in our discussion?

Jeff Winton (55:17):
Yeah, I think we've had a very wide ranging conversation, and I certainly appreciate this opportunity. Your audience is extremely important to us. As I said, unlike some other segments of agriculture, the people that are listening to this podcast have been proactive and they have been very energized and activated to help spread the word that there is hope and there is help. I would just remind people that the resources are available on our website at again, ruralminds.org. Pretty easy to remember. We're also on most all of these social media platforms. We keep adding so many, I don't even know what we're on now, but we've got a team that does that. So follow us on social media and also we have a free newsletter that comes out every month or every couple months, depending on what's coming on. You can sign up for that. All of our webinars are archived.

Perfect. So you can go back and look at other webinars that we've done, but we want to hear from you because again, we're only three and a half years old. We want to know what you need, what you want, what we're not doing, and you can contact me through our website. There's a both phone number and an email on our website that then will be triaged to me, and I will more than likely as a small organization, be the guy you'll hear from. So, I look forward to hearing from all of you. It will take every single one of us to slow down the speeding runaway train that we find ourselves on. So thank you, Lynsey. Thank you to the Angus Association for giving us this opportunity. And we hope this is just the first of many conversations we have with you.

Lynsey McAnally (57:11):
Well, and listeners, we'll go ahead and post all of these links to the show notes. So if you're interested in just going to the show notes and clicking a link that will be available to you. And Jeff, you're not off the hook quite yet. We always like to end our conversations with and end our podcast with a simple question, which is, what is one good thing that is going on in your life, whether personal or professional, that you are thankful for?

Jeff Winton (57:43):
I am thankful for many things, but because I'm talking to you today from my horse farm in Kansas and the listeners can't see it, but I've got a big horse painting behind me. I am thankful for the role that my horses are playing in my own mental health journey. As many people may know, horses are being utilized in therapy, in mental health therapy, in helping people that have been abused in the veteran community. And as someone who struggles myself because I'm human just like everybody else, I have been so grateful and so appreciative of the role my horses have played in my own mental health wellbeing and my own journey and my own recovery. So I, again, am looking out the window at a couple of my horses right now. So this is top of mind. Many other things I'm thankful for, but since I was asked for one thing, I'm thankful for my horses and the role they're playing in my mental health journey.

Lynsey McAnally (58:50):
Awesome. Well, Jeff, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. I cannot wait to get this episode out to our audience. And again, listeners, every one of the links that Jeff has mentioned and that we've talked about in this podcast, we will make sure that those are available to you in the show notes. And Jeff, thanks for being with us.

Jeff Winton (59:10):
Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity.

Lynsey McAnally (59:13):
Awesome.

Listeners, for more information on making Angus work for you, check out the Angus Beef Bulletin and the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA. You can subscribe to both publications in the show notes. If you have questions or comments, let us know at abbeditorial@angus.org and we would appreciate it if you would leave us a review on Apple Podcast and share this episode with any other profit-minded cattlemen. Thanks for listening. This has been Angus at Work!