The Colorado Agricultural Behavioral Health work group convened for its first monthly meeting on Monday, bringing mental health practitioners and members of the agricultural community from across the state together to discuss strategies to address the mental health crisis afflicting Colorado's farmers and ranchers.

Headed by Department of Agriculture Water Policy Advisor Robert Sakata and Clinton Wilson of the Colorado Farm Bureau, the working group was established through a bipartisan piece of legislation during the 2024 session. The group includes active members of the farming and ranching community who have experienced mental or behavioral health issues, as well as mental health providers and representatives from the Behavioral Health Administration and Department of Public Health and Environment.

The group is tasked with engaging in statewide community outreach to educate farming communities on the behavioral health issues and stigma impacting farmers, ranchers, and their families. In addition to community outreach and education, the group will work to address the root causes of behavioral and mental health challenges in the agricultural industry. Agricultural workers and rural Coloradans are particularly susceptible to mental and behavioral health issues for a number of reasons, including physical isolation, long working hours, and financial stressors.

The working group will come up with best practices for providing behavioral health care to Colorado's agricultural communities, collect data on behavioral health outcomes in those communities, and report it back to the Department of Agriculture and Behavioral Health Administration. The group is also statutorily required to provide grants through the Agricultural Behavioral Health Grant Program to continue existing behavioral health programs or create new ones in agricultural communities.

The group currently consists of 17 members, with plans to add a member from one of the state's federally recognized tribes and a native Spanish speaker in the future. Members range from Chad Reznicek and Julie Elliott of the Colorado State University Extension's AgrAbility program to Michael Lozano, a veteran and suicide survivor from Steamboat Springs who owns WarHorse Ranch, a nonprofit organization that provides equine therapy to veterans, first responders and trauma survivors.

The Agricultural Behavioral Health work group will meet virtually every month, with meetings open to the public. For more information, click here.

To read more about the mental health care challenges facing Colorado's rural and agricultural communities, click here.