Welcome back to The Rural Well! In this episode, we get the opportunity to talk with Brian Reisinger, Author of Land Rich, Cash Poor among many different other endeavours that Brian pursues. For more info on Brian, visit https://www.brian-reisinger.com/about

Topics in this episode:

• Mourning the loss of livestock as a farmer

• Vulnerability with father
• Generational survival mode
• Dealing with hard times and farm crisis
• Generational weight of hard work required as a farmer
• Pressure to work hard generationally
• Brian’s role is to tell the story, hard fought to get there
• Older farmers, generations tend to still horde things because of history and the reminders of the Great Depression or war rations
• Resilience isn’t just digging your heels in and working harder, it’s more like building a support network, approaching issues realistically, ask for help etc.
• Checking in on folks was more of a “come by and visit”, not a mental health “intervention”
• Brain’s role was “translator” - had to journey off the farm to learn and gain wisdom from a different perspective. Translating back to the farm world

Todays quote: “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.” - Thomas Jefferson

This is why farmers are in Superbowl commercials and permeate so much of our country - this is our identity, cultivating our own food and working the land

Question? Harkening back to the days when the milk man would delivery, If you could get anything delivered to your home still, what would it be?

Links and Resources:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.nfmha.ca/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - National Farmer Mental Health Alliance

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.lilaclanemedia.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Lilac Lane Media

Facebook -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Instagram -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Twitter -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TikTok -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: info [at] theruralwell.com

Welcome back to The Rural Well Podcast! We've reached episode 12. We have the incredible privilege of having Brittany Olsen join the podcast today,

Brittany Olsen is a fifth generation dairy farmer in north western Wisconsin with her husband Sam and son Titus. Brittany is also a business owner, photographer and blogger.

Show Notes or discussion points:

- Lived in abuse, a broken family relationship as a child

- Miscarriage was the start of the end of my parents marriage

- There is such a thing as "golden uterus syndrome" - tune in for explanation

- Abusive moms don’t deserve the right to still have contact and control their child - this caused unnecessary trauma

- Parents sometimes use their children to hurt the other spouse

- Entered counselling but had to wait a year!

- Had to build boundaries with mom

- later in life, still had to deal with stress and problems, fires, barn rebuilds, birth trauma

- Panic attacks, crushing anxiety are still there

- We need to reorganize our expectations

- Recognize that you are fearfully and wonderfully made and have value from your creator…”God made the moon and the stars and he also decided he needed one of us”

Quote “If agriculture goes wrong, nothing else will have a chance to go right”

Cheap food does have a cost. Moving away from our farming roots can have negative consequences in our culture.

Question: If you could take on anyones voice, who would that voice be?

Thank you for tuning in!

Links and Resources:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.nfmha.ca/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - National Farmer Mental Health Alliance

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.lilaclanemedia.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Lilac Lane Media

Facebook -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Instagram -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Twitter -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TikTok -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: info [at] theruralwell.com

Welcome back to The Rural Well Podcast! We've reached episode 11. We have the incredible privilege of having Katelyn Duban join the podcast today, so buckle up, grab a hot drink, and join in the conversation.

Katelyn Duban is a first generation female farmer in Southern Alberta, Canada. As for podcasting, she continues to share and celebrate the stories of Women in Agriculture. She's also delving into a new venture of Podcast Coaching. Katelyn is the host of The Rural Women Podcast and is a well sought after public speaker!

Show Notes or discussion points:

• Got into podcasting to hear the stories of women in agriculture
• Filling a void we felt was missing back in 2019
• No two stories are the same, no two farms may farm the same
• Podcasting with women in agriculture have really grown, especially through and out of the pandemic
• It's a generational thing: when we think of women sharing their stories, stories are inspiring and have such value to learn from older women of traditional ways and experiences
• Resilience should not be a badge of honour, but can help propel you forward
• Memorable moments include sparking and spurring someone on to literally “quitting her job” to get into agriculture
• true resilience IS vulnerability
• There is a “culture” in agriculture - it’s a privilege to be a farmer!
• Postpartum depression often doesn’t get talked about. “I just thought that’s how you’re supposed to feel….”
• Some people cope in being vulnerable, others can “overshare” but we all have to get through our experiences in our own way. But sharing your story is important
• Vulnerability can be scary, but is so worthwhile
• It’s ok to evaluate both family members and counsellors when decided what to share with whom. When you find that “fit”, you will know!
• Emotional safety is real - share or don’t share. You decide!

Quote 1: “Bailing twine turns every farmer into McGyver”

Quote 2: “We have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman of the kindest order, a kind of artist”.

Final question to comment on: Is there something you used to do all the time and were passionate about, but you either just don’t have time anymore or just don’t have the same drive for it?

Links and Resources:

⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.nfmha.ca/⁠⁠⁠⁠ - National Farmer Mental Health Alliance

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.lilaclanemedia.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Lilac Lane Media

Facebook -⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠

Instagram -⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠

Twitter -⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠

TikTok -⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@theruralwell⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: info [at] theruralwell.com