Are You a Prisoner to your farm? The Stresses of Rural Life and Building a Farm

we become a prisoner to our farm we become a prisoner to where we live we become a prisoner to our lifestyle here which really tends to isolate us from the rest of the public I can't leave this because I'm a prisoner to my farm you know how stressful it is if you go on a vacation and you have to find somebody to watch your dog imagine having them watch 100 chickens and 55 cows every day we've got to check things we've got to make sure food and water and make sure everything's healthy and we tend to neglect our own personal health and our own mental health good morning folks welcome back to the Stony Ridge Farm it's an absolutely gorgeous morning here on the farm and today we're going to be talking about something that affects all rural communities whether you know it or not being a prisoner to your farm is something that's serious and depression in farming and an agricultural industry is something that's absolutely serious and definitely warrants talking about I want you guys to share your thoughts feelings and stories down here I know Farmers aren't really that Feelgood kind of group you know what I mean we don't like to talk about our feelings but today we're having an open discussion and I want you guys to chime in there'll be a link down the video description and a link right here for you guys if you want to check this out it's called lean on a gate talk to a mate my friend Wiggy started this program for helping Farmers deal with being a prisoner to their Farm check this guy out hey bud that's big that's big bud hey big bud how you doing come along let's have some fun we'll get the cows moved over here real quick let's move to some fresh grass come on come on come on kids come on all right folks once again welcome back to the Stony Ridge Farm as the cows either move and use the gate I opened or don't the babies are going under the fence I want to talk to you guys about something that's real something that really affects a lot of rural communities and Farmers such as myself guys and that is being a prisoner to your property being a prisoner to your Farm you know all us folks that live in rural communities and all us folks that Farm and Ranch like this we all love the land we love peace and quiet we love the beauty of a sunrise we love and appreciate our animals we love and appreciate the lifestyle that we live but often times and as I found myself and you guys may share similar experiences we become a prisoner to our farm we become a prisoner to where we live we become a prisoner to our lifestyle here which really tends to isolate us from the rest of the public it's something that needs to be talked about and I hope you guys can appreciate this conversation and please again post comments down below so matter you're in the cow pasture talking to you about this because it's something that's super important in agriculture we live in such an up and down World in other words a calf that I sell off my farm 3 years ago might have been worth 250 bucks now it might be worth 1,200 bucks you just don't know we have dry times we have hot times we have wet times we have health issues with our animals we have health issues with our grasses we have issues all the time that the general public pretty much doesn't really have to think about we are on our land we are on our property and a lot of times our property is far far away from what we would mainly consider civil Iz ation I find this to be interesting when I talk to my friends who have a regular 9 to5 or 7 to3 job where they go and they punch a clock and they do their job and they come home and then they have the freedom to go do stuff right now and you're probably watching this video after the fact but it's the 4th of July it's Independence Day weekend here on the Stony Ridge Farm and it doesn't matter that it's Independence Day weekend it doesn't matter that it's Christmas it doesn't matter that it's Thanksgiving it doesn't matter that it's or or any of that it doesn't matter guys farming is every day it don't matter if it's Sunday it don't matter if it's snowing and it's waste deep in snow or if it's raining and it's waste deep in mud we've got to get out here we've got to take care of our animals we got to take care of our land and it's the love of the land that drives us to do what we do and it often drives us apart from other people it drives us apart from our families it drives us apart from our marriages my marriage is destroyed my marriage is completely destroyed because of my farm it honestly is the stress of not having a regular 9 to-5 job where you punch a clock you go in you know what you're going to make every day you know what you're going to make every year the stress of having that kind of Lifestyle drove my marriage apart it drives marriages apart every single day I want you guys to post about this I want you to post your comments have you gone through a divorce and are you a rural person do you build fences agricultural fences do you sell tractors do you work at the local grain Co-op tell me tell me where you work tell me what you do and tell me about your friends and family that are having similar troubles so depression is rampid in the agricultural community and we are stubborn people okay we are absolutely stubborn people we don't like to talk about our feelings this is all feel good well my friend Wiggy has started a company a company I say a nonprofit called lean on a gate talk to a mate and again there'll be a link down in the video description down here for you guys and there'll be a link across the screen in case you're watching this on your TV guys I suggest that if you're having trouble and you're and you need someone to talk to you and you need a mate and and the reason it's called a mate is because he's from downunda I believe it's New Zealand or Australia I think it's New Zealand and there's a huge f building community in New Zealand that gets supported by lean on a gate talk to a mate depression anxiety the stresses of the farm life and not being able to leave like I said it's the 4th of July and all of my friends and family are all out at the beach they're all on vacation my mom and dad are up in the mountains they're riding mules I don't have time to go see them my other friends are at the beach on vacation I don't have time to go see them I can't leave this because I'm a prisoner to my farm and often times Farmers feel this way large land owners feel this way people that have animals feel this way whether it's your dog you know how stressful it is if you go on a vacation and you have to find somebody to watch your dog imagine having them watch a 100 chickens and 55 cows it is a chore it is a worry you're always worried is there a tree going to fall on the fence every day we've got to check things we've got to make sure food and water and make sure everything's healthy and we tend to neglect our own personal health and our own mental health how many of you guys have seen farmer types farmer guys that are out there and they work harder than anybody you've ever seen and they got a big old belly that sticks out to here why do they have that big old belly it's because they're stress eating right it's because they're eating so much after the end of the day CU they work from before sun up to after sun down they get in the house and they're totally exhausted they shovel some garbage food in and they lay down and go to bed and it just compounds and compounds and makes it worse and worse and worse so if you're feeling trapped if you're feeling like you're a prisoner to your farm or your property please post it down there the stresses of weather the stresses of Seasons the stresses of unhealthy animals the stresses of giving birth with animals like this and what you might have to do the stresses of feeding hay so it's been super hot this year I had to feed hay for a month here on the Stony Ridge Farm that's $50 a bail that's three Bales per day $50 per day for a full month here in the summertime feeding these cows just to make sure because it's my duty to make sure that they're healthy it's also my duty to take care of myself and it's also all of our duties to make time to get away we are sometimes prisoners to our property prisoners to our farm and sometimes we just need someone to listen to there's so many ups and downs in ranching farming and in the agricultural industry that it's super stressful for folks so I just wanted to open this discussion for you guys to talk about it for us all to talk about it post comments down there I will respond to your comments Talk Amongst each other guys this is something that's super important and I know Farmers aren't that Fey good oh hug me let's have therapy kind of people we're tough we're robust we're strong but in the end of the day are you going to bed in tears because because you're alone because you're on your property and you're a prisoner to your property are you feeling empty are you feeling alone are you having that what's it all about thought in your head I'm out here on 150 acres I've got 50 cows I've got about 100 chickens I'm taking care of my Gardens I'm taking care of my animals am I taking care of myself that's the question we have to ask each other is my lifestyle destroying any social life that I have is my wife unhappy with me is my husband unhappy with me am I not taking her out to dinner or her out to do things am I not showing enough love to the people that are around me and not taking enough time for myself am I a prisoner to my farm don't be a prisoner to your farm guys please hit that like button subscribe to the channel find a way find some help find someone who can help you who can watch who can look after things while you're gone do that for yourself and be sure you take some time for yourself rural communities really suffer with a lot of depression this is an up and down industry that's super scary to be in sometimes we don't know how we're going to make our bills a lot of times and it's super important to take time for yourself and learn and take care of yourself don't be a prisoner to your farm guys thank you so much for listening there will be a link down again in the video description to lean on a gate talk to a mate I'm not promoting his business I'm trying to help all of us realize that there's more to life than just moving them cows and that grass and the tractor that needs to be fixed and the hay that needs to be done there's more to life we need to get out we need to learn we need to listen to our spouses we need to listen to our friends and we need to take time for ourselves thank you guys please hit that like button subscribe to the channel share this video with like-minded people if you know someone who you think is a prisoner to their Farm prisoner to their property to their business please share this with them so we can help them thank you so much see you next time on the Stony Ridge bring your wife bring your kids living life pure and sweet that's the way supposed to be Stony rid