Get Beyond The Weather with Taylor Brown
The Montana Phone Booth Project
Belgrade, MT – In Montana’s vast and open space, where communities are often small and far apart, isolation can take a heavy toll on a person’s mind. Artist Jim Dolan, known for his public art installations including “Bleu Horses”, is launching a unique initiative aimed at bridging that gap—The Montana Phone Booth Project. The idea […]
Beyond the Weather – Travis & Melissa Stuber – On Supporting a Loved One who is Struggling
Beyond the Weather: A Ranch Woman’s Perspective on Agricultural Stress
From the pressure of marrying in to an established ranching family to how to get through loneliness and grief, Jenny Stovall gets “Beyond the Weather”. In an effort to normalize conversations surrounding mental health in the agriculture community, Northern Ag Network’s Courtney Kibblewhite interviewed Stovall for her perspective. Jenny (Singleton) Stovall ranches with her husband […]
“Groundwork” Episode 7: Normalizing Mental Health Care in Agricultural Communities, Addressing Farm Stress & Restoring Wellbeing in Rural Montana
Megan Torgerson (narrating): It’s easy to spot the stress of labor on a farmer’s body. A weathered face wears lines drawn on by the sun. Calloused hands know the grip of a shovel. Flesh burns then scars from the brush of a branding iron, and after years of hauling grain into town, a back remains in […]
Addressing Mental Health in Rural America
Confronting mental health challenges is difficult for anyone, especially farmers and ranchers known for their toughness. No matter what life throws at them, they can handle it. That reputation and the negative stigma around mental health in rural communities has left many to suffer in silence. With research showing rising rates of depression and suicide […]
Ending Youth Suicide: Is this Program in Your School?
In the 2021 Montana High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, roughly half of all students reported feeling seriously depressed at some point in the last year, and one in five reported seriously considering suicide and making a suicide plan. About 1 in 10 students had attempted suicide in in the past year. Rural Behavioral Health […]
Montana Mental Health Campaign Wins National Award
(Kansas City, MO) – At the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) convention the Montana Department of Agriculture’s Beyond the Weather campaign won the prize for the Best Radio Commercial Series that aired on NAFB stations and networks in 2022. Amelia Siroky and Courtney Kibblewhite of Northern Ag Network who developed the campaign and accepted the award […]
Lodge Grass Leaders Address Addiction and Recovery from Within
Mountain Shadow Association (MSA) is a community-based, Native-American non-profit focused on repairing and restoring relationships between children and their parents, citizens and their community, families and their culture, individuals and their environment. Megkian Doyle is the Executive Director of Mountain Shadow Association, a Native American 501c3 whose mission is to support families in their journey toward […]
Bolstering mental health resources for Montana farm families
GREAT FALLS — In Summer 2022, the Montana Department of Agriculture released a new initiative in partnership with Frontier Psychiatry in Billings to create free mental health resources directed at farm families. The partnership was at the inspiration of Courtney Kibblewhite, Vice President of the Northern Ag Network. “We’ve been my family has been a […]