Miscellaneous

Saying Goodbye to Dad: A Farmer’s Journey with Grief

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 15:55:54 GMT

Grief is hard. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a way of life, or even a dream, the pain of losing something we care about is an inevitable part of being human. However, that doesn’t make grief any easier to walk through.

On May 23, 2024, Nathan Isler lost his father, Bill, to a stroke. The man who was greater than life to him, was no longer by his side every day on their family pork and grain operation. The loss that everyone who loved him felt was undeniable.

“I don’t know how people deal with grief without faith. If you think death is just the end, it’s a hard thing to deal with,” Isler says. “For me, the toughest part is the loss of those moments where I wish he was there to talk to about things.”

In Isler’s mind, grief is more of a feeling than a definition. In the simplest of terms, he says it’s disappointment in life not going the way you want it to – not getting the answers you hoped for or not having the person you want to be there.

But grief, as painful as it feels, is also a process that can open the door to growth and resilience.

“It is impossible to live without experiencing pain at some point in our lives,” says Jorge Estrada, Global Coaching Alliance Latin America lead. “Life and pain go hand in hand. They’re part of the great dichotomies: black and white, day and night, life and death, love and pain.”

Pain isn’t an interruption to life, it’s a thread woven through it, Estrada adds. At the same time, grief isn’t a sign of weakness or failure. It’s evidence of our capacity to love deeply and to heal, even after profound loss.

Understanding Grief

“Grief hurts,” agrees Gina Forte, an expert in thanatology which is the study of death, loss and the processes that follow. “When we love someone or something, we become attached to it. The more we love, the more it hurts to lose.”

But that hurt has a purpose. Grief is an adaptive emotional process, a way to make sense of loss and find balance again, she adds. Knowing it’s a process helps people move forward.

“Perseverance is a necessity in life,” Isler says. “Life goes on. You can’t stop. You can’t lose your potential or your life. Putting my head down and getting work done – being productive – has helped me during this time.”

He says there is something healing about setting goals and pushing forward.

“Getting in your own head too much allows the grief to multiply,” Isler adds. “For me, being able to have wins and accomplish goals promotes healing.”

Forte says that’s the function of grief – to restore and heal.

“When we don’t allow ourselves to process it, grief can become unhealthy or even pathological,” she says.

From Shock to Acceptance

When loss hits, no one is ready to understand or accept it fully. The stages of grief all play a key role in the process. Forte outlined the seven stages of grief:

Grief isn’t a straight line, she says. Sometimes people circle back to the same stage again, but the visits grow shorter over time.

One day, one of Isler’s dad’s friends showed him a video of his dad swinging on a rope at a retreat not long before he passed away.

“I don’t know what, but something triggered inside me – to see that youthfulness and joy he always had,” Isler says. “It’s hard to predict what will trigger different parts of the grief process. I have found that the return to different stages gets quicker as you move on.”

On the Other Side of Loss

The resilience that emerges on the other side of loss makes us stronger people, Estrada says. In short, it’s not just surviving hardship, it’s being transformed by it.

Estrada defines resilience as the ability to navigate change, understand grief, learn, let go, and create a new reality—one that carries a better version of ourselves into the next stage of life.

“Everything you do in life changes who you are a little bit,” Isler says. “I’ve learned more about who my dad was to so many. I’ve learned not everyone has a role model like him. I hope I can live up to the example he set for my kids.”

Studies show one of the strongest predictors of resilience is having loving and supportive relationships that offer trust, encouragement and security through the grief process.

For Isler, living next door to his mom, who has been living with dementia for several years, has put him in a unique situation. Sharing stories about his dad with his mom has been especially healing.

“My mom has always been someone I could talk to easily,” Isler says. “I’ve used her as a map to put it all out there because she isn’t grieving the way the rest of us are. She knows dad isn’t around, but it doesn’t all connect for her like it does for us. When I talk about dad with her, it does nothing but bring joy to her.”

Get Off the Island

Everyone deals with grief at some point, Isler says. Maybe it’s grief from the loss of a loved one, but for farmers, grief could stem from a terrible financial situation on the farm or the loss of a business you’ve built your life around.

“For all the people who think they are alone, it’s just not the case,” he says. “We all deal with grief, and we all deal with it differently. A lot of times we put ourselves on an island – especially in our industry.”

Farmers – especially men – are some of the worst about talking about their feelings, Isler says.

“We are tough guys. We get the work done and go on,” he says. “But it helps to talk about it. Let people show up for you or go find someone to talk to if they don’t know what you are going through.”

When Isler’s sister told him that what helped her in the grief process was being around him, he was taken aback a little.

“She said I reminded her of dad and was a lot like him, that being around me made it easier not having dad around anymore,” he says. “To me, that’s the best compliment I’ve ever received.”

Don't Break, Build: A Farmer's Playbook for Taking Control of Your Mind

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 19:02:20 GMT

It was already shaping up to be one of those days.

An unexpected bill is due, and the money just isn’t there. The kids are fighting again. Understandably, your wife is over it, and now it’s your fault. One of your employees just called to say the new group of wean pigs is sick. It’s all a part of a life, but sometimes it just stacks up to be too much.

“In a world of unpredictability with so many factors at play on any given day, it’s easy to be mentally or emotionally hijacked by elements out of our control,” says Athena Diesch-Chham with Restorative Path Counseling and Wellbeing. “Stress and anxiety thrive in this environment. However, the long-term effects of that are real.”

Farming stress will never go away, so how can you get more grit or become more resilient to that stress?

One expert says it starts by paying attention to the present.

“Don’t think about what happened yesterday or worry about what is happening tomorrow,” says Cheri Burcham, with University of Illinois Extension. “Focus on what you are doing and feeling in the very moment.”

Diesch-Chham likes to think of it as “being where your feet are.”

“So often brains are hijacked by stress and launch us mentally to a different space either in the past or in the future,” Diesch-Chham adds. “Mindfulness is just asking for our whole selves to be here in this moment, wherever our feet are planted.”

Pay Attention

This concept of truly being “in the moment” not only reduces stress, but research shows it can also lower blood pressure, increase immunity and reduce anxiety and depression, Burcham says.

When you intentionally notice where you are, you can recognize potential challenges sooner, says Abigail Cudney with Michigan State University Extension . Instead of habitually reacting to stress with intense anger, emotional shutdown, negative thinking or overthinking, this intentional awareness helps rewire the brain through a process called neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to grow and adapt to new experiences.

Consider the attention you pay when walking through the barn. You use all your senses to make assessments and determine what’s going on all around you.

“Whether it’s walking the barn or enjoying the fall scenery, naming something you are currently experiencing for each of the five senses is another way to practice mindfulness,” Diesch-Chham says. “This doesn’t have to be complicated – the whole goal is to bring mind and body to the same place.”

5 Senses Technique

Just Breathe

The fight or flight response animals have when stress strikes is the same thing that happens in people. As a review, the vagus nerve, which runs from the base of the brain and branches out to the organs, serves as a conduit of chemicals/hormones that are activated automatically/reflexively by the sympathetic nervous system. This is an involuntary and adaptive process that increases respiration and blood flow to prepare the body for quick and protective action, such as fighting or fleeing. Once the perceived threat has passed or been managed successfully, the stress response also passes and respiration, blood pressure, and heart rate return to a normal steady state, according to the Yale School of Medicine .

Through deep breathing, the vagus nerve can be stimulated intentionally to help restore, mitigate and even prevent these physical and psychological reactions. Slow, even breaths that originate deep within the abdomen stimulate the vagus nerve in a way that signals safety and cues the body and mind to relax, restore, and release chronic and unhealthy patterns.

“Deep breathing can be practiced anywhere and in so many ways – so it is very accessible and easy for farmers to practice,” Burcham explains. “Practice in the field or even while operating machinery.”

Let Go of What You Can’t Control

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of “being where your feet are” is realizing you can’t control it all.

“Working towards recognizing what truly is within our individual control and then choosing to focus our energy on managing what we can control to improve our overall mental health and stress, helps us remain resilient through the pieces that are outside of our control,” Diesch-Chham says.

Adversity happens. Markets will crash. Animals will get sick. Disease will strike. Families will argue. But you can recover faster from those stresses by staying grounded in the moment, aligning your thoughts and emotions with reality.

Resources to Help Build Resilience:
North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center

Mindfulness: University of Illinois Extension

Building Resilience with Mindfulness

Why Now is the Time To Move Used Construction Iron in the Farm Equipment Auction World

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 13:51:25 GMT

Casey Seymour and Greg “Machinery Pete” Peterson agree now is the time when many farmers spend time shopping for what they call auxiliary machinery — things like wheel loaders, skid steers, track loaders and other compact and heavy utility equipment types.

“Skid steers are one of the first things that pop up when in my mind when I start thinking about that right now,” says Seymour, adding there is almost always a healthy supply of the versatile material movers in the used market.

Machinery Pete recalls skid steer values falling a bit last year due to that high supply, but this year is a different story. Values are trending up on used because, once again, the cost of a brand-new skid steer is high.

(Machinery Pete Facebook)

“Pifer’s Auction had a sale (recently), and I think it was a 2024 Deere 335 P-Tier with 275 hours on it, give or take, and I thought that sold really well at $94,000 hard cash,” Pete says.

Another notable transaction came out of Illinois, Pete recalls. At a Joel Everett Tractors & Auction sale, a 2009 John Deere 325 with under 300 hours sold for $36,000, which was well over the previous auction high of $28,500.

“It was interesting. When they got to the skid steer they paused and said, ‘Hey, folks, this 2009 model is loaded with every single option,’ which is unusual for a 16-year-old model,” Pete adds. “But again, it was palpable how many people wanted that thing, and you know, $36,000 is a big check — but for hardly any hours on it and what you’re going to pay for a new one?”

Pete and Seymour also discuss the firming up they are seeing with used values on some of the large construction equipment seen around the farm, including excavators, wheel loaders and bulldozers.

How Kerr Auctions is Unlocking Export Markets

Alex Kerr of Kerr Auctions joined the guys next to discuss how his auction house is carving out space in the export market.

Kerr says the company has capitalized on growing equipment demand overseas by creating specialized sales that cater to export buyers. These sales often feature equipment that may not have strong domestic buyer interest due to age or condition.

Kerr has established partnerships to help overseas buyers handle logistics and shipping, and the company made the decision to eliminate buyer penalties for high bidders. Both decisions demonstrate a level of transparency and trust that helps put buyer minds at ease, he thinks.

“Specialized sales do well,” Kerr says. “We got to thinking that the export buyers, they hate some of the auction things they deal with. They don’t speak the language; you’ve got to talk to them on WhatsApp, or they have an online only presence.”

Kerr Auction’s next big export-focused Inaugural Farmer/Dealer Consignment Sale is set for Aug. 14. Check out all the details here.

The Rest of the Episode

Shawn Hackett, president and CEO of Hackett Financial, joined the show for an update on where commodity markets sit today and row crop futures prices. Glen Birnbaum, principal with Sikich, came on to talk machine depreciation rates and upcoming changes to tax law.

And Aaron Fintel, used equipment specialist with 21st Century Equipment, gave his view on moving used compact construction equipment out on the western plains.

Head over to YouTube to watch the full episode , and give it a “Thumbs Up” and hit the “Subscribe” button to get every Moving Iron episode as soon as it drops.

It's Hot Out There: Avoid Heat Stroke and Heat Exhaustion This Summer

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 20:05:09 GMT

As the temperatures begin to soar, we all know farm and ranch work never stops, even in the hot weather.

“Wear lightweight, long-sleeved, light-colored clothing, or a cooling vest and take short, frequent breaks in a shaded or cool area to stay cool while working outdoors,” says Tawnie Larson, a program manager in Kansas State University’s Carl and Melinda Helwig Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and the Kansas Agriculture Safety and Health Program.

She says technical cooling vests “are essentially like wearing air conditioning.”

“The vests use specialized fabric and fibers to circulate cooling products to keep body temperatures low during hot days,” she explains.

Larson also suggests using equipment with a canopy, such as a Rollover Protection Structure (ROPS) with a sunshade.

“Usually, the ROPS with canopies cannot be folded down, which in turn provides more safety for operators because the ROPS is always activated,” Larson says. “Equipment that has an enclosed cab often times comes with air conditioning and has a built-in ROPS. Both of these options provide safety from rollovers and can help prevent heat-related illness.”

Because each individual reacts to hot days different, it’s important to listen to your body, Larson says. Take frequent breaks and stay inside during the hottest part of the day if possible.

“Medication may also play a role in affecting one’s body’s ability to stay cool, making it harder to handle the heat,” Larson says. “Before working outside this summer, check with your doctor to see if you’re at higher risk for heat-related illness and whether you should take extra-precautions due to medication.”

Is it Heat Stroke or Heat Exhaustion?
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends drinking 1 cup of water every 15-20 minutes, and before becoming thirsty. The CDC also recommends keeping sugary and alcoholic drinks to a minimum. Replace salt and minerals with snacks or a sports drink.

Heat stroke symptoms include high body temperature; hot, dry, red or damp skin; fast, strong pulse; headache; dizziness; nausea; confusion; and lack of consciousness.

If a person is suffering from heat stroke:

Call 9-1-1 immediately.
Move the person to a cooler place.
Lower the person’s temperature with cooler clothes.
Do not give the person anything to drink.

“Heat exhaustion is different and usually not as serious,” Larson says.

Symptoms of heat exhaustion may include:

heavy sweating
cold, pale and clammy skin
fast, weak pulse
nausea
tiredness
headache
fainting

“If this occurs, take action by moving to a cool place, loosen clothing, get cool, sip water and seek medical attention if symptoms last longer than an hour or get worse,” Larson says.

Your Next Read: Protect Your Pigs With Summer Beat-the-Heat Prep Tips

Fight Those Winter Blues with Sunlight and Fresh Air

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 16:57:31 GMT

The holiday rush is over, and many people will experience a touch of the winter blues over the next couple of months.

“It’s not uncommon in the general public for us to struggle with some level of sadness or an ‘I need to get through the season’ mindset,” said Danyelle Kuss, educator and multi-county specialist for Oklahoma State University Extension in Oklahoma County.

She explained someone who has seasonal affective disorder and a person who generally experiences a lower mood through the winter season are distinctly different.

“SAD is a major depressive disorder with a subtype for seasonal patterns, triggered by a seasonal onset,” Kuss said. “Our circadian rhythms start changing, which can disrupt our internal clocks and increase feelings of depression.”

The causes of SAD are unknown, but she said other factors that influence it include a decline in serotonin when exposed to less sunlight and an increase in melatonin, a chemical the human body creates to sleep.

“Winter is a time when people isolate more, they’re indoors more and they do less of the things that normally make them feel better. Depression feeds on these situations,” Kuss said.

Young adults aged 18 to 30 report the highest rate of SAD, while children and older adults experience fewer symptoms. Major signs of depression that impact daily functions like not being able to get out of bed or calling in sick to work indicate the need for professional support.

“It might not just be normal sadness during the holidays or winter months,” Kuss said. “A person might need to talk to a therapist or doctor and discuss what adjustments they can make. I always look at how a condition impacts somebody’s ability to function as a big distinction.”

For those with milder cases of the winter blues, Kuss suggests creating a plan of daily or weekly lifestyle tips that can improve mood long-term:

Bundle up and go outside for at least 15 to 30 minutes of daily sunlight and exercise.
Stick to or develop a healthy routine of sleep, movement and eating nutritious foods.
Be consistent with medication if taking any for depression.
Limit or avoid alcohol, as it is a depressant and can worsen symptoms.
Stay connected to a support system – make plans and stick to them. Follow through with commitments.
Be kind to yourself and others. Practice self-care.

To help with depressive symptoms or seasonal blues, Kuss said people may have to work against their instincts that tell them to stay inside and alone.

“I might not feel like going outside for a walk in the cold sunshine or getting out of my warm pajamas to go to a friend’s house, but if I can manage that initial discomfort, I will feel better on the other side of taking those actions,” she said.

A fun way she advises people to combat seasonal depression is to ride the holiday wave by continuing to meet up with family and friends.

“Weekly get-togethers can help us during those tough times of the month and require us to look at what does and doesn’t work for us,” she said.

Your Next Read: Stress, Social Support and Mental Health for Men and Women Farmers