CENTRAL POINT, Ore. — Maud Powell was devastated and didn’t know where to turn.

The creek running through her family’s acreage had dried up, so she and her husband started collecting rainwater, switched crops and adapted as much as they could.

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Then the 2021 heat dome hit. There simply wasn’t enough water to keep farming their property near Jacksonville, Ore.

Powell and her husband decided to sell the land and debated whether to keep farming.

“We had to deal with all the hard feelings,” Powell said.

Now she’s helping other farmers process the impacts of climate change.

A new project to help

The Oregon State University Extension Service is looking to build resilience in farmers and ranchers with its climate stress and grief for agricultural producers project, headquartered at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center in Central Point.

The project is led by Powell, a small farms specialist, and Courtney Olcott, an assistant professor and mental health expert.

They aim to increase awareness and provide strategies and education.

Agriculture is stressful enough with low prices, increasing input costs and new regulations. But the shifting climate is leading to more insect and disease pressure, drought, wildfires and smoke.

“There’s quite a bit of work on farmer suicide prevention and farmer hotlines, but we’re looking at this low grade stress that’s constant,” Powell said.

Olcott said it’s important to evaluate and collect feedback because there isn’t much research.

She’s seeking a grant to teach other OSU Extension staff counseling techniques and hopes the project spurs similar initiatives across the West.

Tough culture of farming

Residents in rural areas are underserved by counselors. Plus, farmers and ranchers are supposed to be tough, so they are less likely to seek mental health support.

Powell said grief often accompanies the death of a loved one, but similar feelings can occur when farmers are at risk of losing their land or livelihoods.

Feelings such as sadness, fear and anger can surface, as well as a sense of helplessness or hopelessness, she said.

“People are so overwhelmed with it. … Often the response is really to numb out. If you’re not thinking about it, though, you’re not taking any action,” Powell said.

Keeping people farming

Powell knows about 10 farmers who left the area due to climate-related problems, though some have continued in agriculture. “That’s just people who I worked closely with. A lot of them don’t farm anymore,” she said.

She and her husband made it through their crisis and are operating their organic seed farm, Wolf Gulch Farm, on 5 acres at their new home in Ruch, Ore.

Olcott hopes climate stress and grief interventions will save small family farms.

That’s important because it provides food, fiber and other products.

“Keeping people farming is of benefit to everybody,” Olcott said.