Our final episode takes one final look back at the season behind us, before  the farmers discuss what they have learned about mental health and self-care, and how those lessons might change their habits moving forward ..read more

With the approaching holiday season, our farmers take a chance to look past the stress and disappointments of this growing season and consider what they are thankful for, and consider just what it is about their way of life that makes it worth living.  ..read more

With the season and the harvest finally behind us, the farmers have a fuller and clearer understanding of just what they accomplished this season. What worked? what didn’t? What energy and money was wasted? What was saved? We also speak, head-on about the suicide rates in farmers, understanding the larger reckoning within the industry.  ..read more

After a wet spring and a long summer, the growing season is ramping up before harvest, and Arkansas farmers are looking for relief from the work wherever they can find it. It might mean delivering cattle to Dodge City, KS or lazing on a beach in Aruba. Regardless, when you live where you work, like most farmers do, it is vitally important you take time for yourself and step away from the labor, even if only for a moment.  ..read more

The cost of farming has always been high and has only exploded with inflation.  There are the constants of seed, feed, chemicals, and fuel – the overhanging debt of land leases and the unforeseen bills of equipment maintenance and repairs. Almost all farmers take out yearly loans, betting on the hope that their harvest profits can pay the debts.  Everybody knows somebody who’s had a bad year and got “upside down” in their borrowing.  This “gamble” can greatly affect a farmer’s mental health ..read more

Arkansas April brought with it a violent storm system, who's tornadic activity left a valley of destruction across the state. As our farmers prepare for and cope with that destruction, we highlight the unpredictable demands of the farming lifestyle. We also speak with Dr. Teresa Hudson of the Psychiatric Research Institute at UAMS on the different types of stress and their effects on the body and mind.  ..read more

Six Arkansas farmers look back at how their stories lead them to today. From a mother and daughter team running a small agritourist operation, to an East Arkansas row crop farmer starting his thirty-second season -- no two farms, and no two stories are ever exactly alike ..read more

Join actor and musician, Ben Dickey, on The Growing Season, a new agricultural podcast from Arkansas PBS. The growing season is a monthly podcast that will follow the stories of six Arkansas farmers as they work through a year on their land.  We will focus on what it truly means to be a farmer today, and the stressors and struggles that come with the lifestyle ..read more