Sponsor needed for mental health connection

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Published: May 6, 2020

As Rob Saik and Patrick Walther have developed the AGvisorPro service to connect farmers with a wide range of experts, one important service gap needing industry support is mental health consulting.

Saik, co-founder and CEO of AGvisorPro, says mental health services is one area of advice and counselling he’d like to make available to farmers free of charge.

“I think it is a hugely important area, especially in light of the challenges producers have faced in the past year,” says Saik. Market disruptions, exceptional weather events, and now the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, are all issues that can take their toll on a person’s sense of well-being.

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“I would like to include mental health services and counselling as part of the services available through AGvisorPro,” says Saik. “But I would like it to be a service available free of charge. As we start this company we don’t have the resources ourselves, but I’m hoping we can find a sponsor or industry partners that can join with us to cover the cost.”

More information on AGvisorPro is available online at agvisorpro.com.

About the author

Lee Hart

Lee Hart

Farm Writer

Lee Hart is a longtime agricultural writer and a former field editor at Grainews.

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