Ambiguous Loss and Agriculture - Agricultural Producer

Ambiguous Loss Team Author

07/21/2023 Added

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This clip is part of video series exploring Ambiguous Loss and Agriculture topics. In this full length, 6 minute clip the interview focuses on ambiguous loss within agricultural and producers.

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[00:00:00.189](gentle music)
[00:00:07.170]Hi, I am John Fech with Nebraska Extension,
[00:00:09.720]and welcome to this video on Ambiguous Loss.
[00:00:12.720]Joining me here in the studio is Glennis McClure,
[00:00:15.630]Extension Agricultural Economist.
[00:00:18.540]Glennis, when an agricultural producer
[00:00:20.670]experiences ambiguous loss, how does that affect them?
[00:00:25.530]Well, ambiguous loss
[00:00:27.120]is often when there's like a big change that occurs-
[00:00:30.600]Right. or it's pending.
[00:00:31.860]And it's not always expected,
[00:00:33.630]it's not always welcome,
[00:00:35.100]and it's a loss that's often not well defined.
[00:00:38.190]And I think back to examples
[00:00:40.110]throughout my career and working with egg producers,
[00:00:42.990]especially even going back
[00:00:44.220]to the farm crisis of the '80s,
[00:00:46.710]I was a farm business consultant for Extension at that time
[00:00:50.010]and I served 60 farm families in southeast Nebraska.
[00:00:53.460]And during the farm crisis then
[00:00:55.500]there were a lot of farm families
[00:00:57.090]that were faced with financial crisis,
[00:00:59.700]financial challenges actually.
[00:01:01.560]Many had to downsize
[00:01:03.390]and reconfigure the scope of their business
[00:01:06.090]in order to keep their land to continue operating.
[00:01:09.300]So, there were many farm sales,
[00:01:10.890]some sold like part and some sold everything.
[00:01:14.250]And it often meant that they were no longer farming
[00:01:17.370]or they couldn't rely on their ag income
[00:01:20.460]to provide enough income to provide a living.
[00:01:22.650]So, a lot of times folks would take jobs
[00:01:25.050]away from the farm,
[00:01:26.280]like either the farmer or their spouse would do that,
[00:01:30.300]so it was a big change for the families.
[00:01:33.630]And so, I would say that shift
[00:01:36.390]oftentimes from being a full-time farmer
[00:01:39.120]to a part-time farmer or none at all
[00:01:40.980]is really a good example of ambiguous loss.
[00:01:44.100]So, and also we see this now
[00:01:45.780]in times of disaster and drought
[00:01:49.080]where we've seen some operations sell part of their cow herd
[00:01:52.620]or all of their cow herd.
[00:01:53.760]That's a big change for a lot of folks.
[00:01:56.217]And right now, we're kind of experiencing that
[00:01:59.220]with a lack of hay or feed
[00:02:01.140]and the expense of feeding those, feeding the animals.
[00:02:05.010]So, as folks are forced to downsize,
[00:02:08.490]or sell, or transition out of a business,
[00:02:10.830]it can mean a change of their identity.
[00:02:13.500]So, they were a farmer,
[00:02:15.360]they were a rancher, they were a cattlemen,
[00:02:17.610]and all of a sudden they might just be out of that business,
[00:02:20.610]and so that's huge.
[00:02:22.380]And according to ambiguous loss research,
[00:02:26.220]this can be a great time of ambiguity
[00:02:29.040]and cause grief to stagnate or become frozen.
[00:02:33.810]So, simply, this type of grief
[00:02:35.790]is when someone has the inability to move on,
[00:02:39.300]and life going forward can seem uncertain,
[00:02:41.640]which makes decision making abilities hard and complicated.
[00:02:47.130]Well, and you've described some pretty good examples there
[00:02:50.880]of those changes that occur,
[00:02:52.590]especially during the farm crisis,
[00:02:54.600]and I think a lot of us can relate to that.
[00:02:56.850]Is it common then for all of those feelings
[00:02:59.610]and emotions to spill over
[00:03:01.650]and influence how the family functions?
[00:03:04.080]Yeah, most certainly.
[00:03:05.670]It can mean that mom and dad
[00:03:07.290]are no longer doing what they've always done
[00:03:09.210]and the children are seeing this huge change.
[00:03:12.120]And so, you know, if the operation was downsized
[00:03:15.630]or interrupted by some type of disaster
[00:03:18.060]or this financial crisis,
[00:03:20.370]it can mean basically less money for family living,
[00:03:22.890]which means they're not doing
[00:03:24.750]the same kinds of things that they've always done,
[00:03:27.060]and the family's sense of consistency is disrupted.
[00:03:30.420]So, it also might mean
[00:03:31.680]that time as a family is spent differently.
[00:03:35.430]Let's say they were always used
[00:03:36.600]to doing the cattle drive every year
[00:03:40.050]and all of a sudden they may not be a part of that.
[00:03:42.660]Traditions in families are really, really important,
[00:03:45.720]and, again, this can be a whole disruption.
[00:03:49.020]So, and it can be really for all of them involved
[00:03:52.770]a huge sense of loss really.
[00:03:54.960]So, additionally the family may,
[00:03:57.660]their routines can be changed
[00:04:00.240]and it really can cause a lot of stress.
[00:04:02.280]So, it's important to note that family stress
[00:04:05.280]is common in times of ambiguous loss.
[00:04:08.910]Well, in terms of stress,
[00:04:10.020]what are some of the warning signs that you might see
[00:04:13.140]when a producer is struggling with ambiguous loss?
[00:04:16.140]Well, I think it's a period of uncertainty
[00:04:18.300]and the hopelessness can linger on,
[00:04:21.750]and like we might struggle to move forward
[00:04:24.150]or they might struggle to move forward,
[00:04:25.860]and making decisions can continue to be hard.
[00:04:29.490]And as noted earlier, grief can become frozen.
[00:04:33.930]Okay, well, that's good.
[00:04:35.670]Now, and kind of one final thing here is getting help.
[00:04:38.760]So, when you see that maybe from one spouse to the other,
[00:04:42.120]one family member to the other,
[00:04:44.280]what should you do when you see that?
[00:04:46.680]Well, it's really okay to ask for help.
[00:04:49.560]Okay. That's I think
[00:04:50.393]that's really an important message that folks should hear
[00:04:52.890]is that it can be,
[00:04:53.723]that help can come from family members or friends,
[00:04:56.910]it can come from the community resources
[00:04:59.520]like different support groups perhaps.
[00:05:02.490]Even mental health professionals,
[00:05:04.140]we can seek help from them,
[00:05:05.760]or our faith community can be a great help.
[00:05:08.520]So, making these connections allows the families,
[00:05:12.240]the individuals within the family
[00:05:14.340]or the families themselves to reevaluate their situation
[00:05:17.790]and can provide them a way to create a different meaning,
[00:05:21.000]a meaning from their ambiguous loss.
[00:05:23.640]So, ultimately, it's beneficial for persons
[00:05:27.990]that are experiencing ambiguous loss
[00:05:29.820]to change their perspective
[00:05:32.010]so they can reshape their identity
[00:05:34.740]or narrative for themselves
[00:05:36.450]or their family and to help them move forward.
[00:05:38.910]That's kind of the thing is let's try to move forward
[00:05:41.010]and sort of build back some resiliency
[00:05:44.040]as their life goes on.
[00:05:45.750]Well, thank you, Glennis,
[00:05:46.650]lots of good content there.
[00:05:48.510]And thank you for watching this video.
[00:05:50.850]Now, for help with other parts of ambiguous loss,
[00:05:53.910]click on the other videos found on this webpage.
[00:05:56.416](gentle music)

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Ambiguous Loss and Agriculture - Agricultural Producer

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