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Friday, May 8, 2020 CapitalPress.com 13 Consultant: Farmers already have stress management skills for quarantine By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Farmers may already have the tools they need to handle the added stress and uncertainty of the COVID- 19 quarantine, a Spokane consultant says. “Actually, in a lot of cases, you’re used to not being in control of things — crops not turning out, weather, some of those other things that happen,” said Jill Yashinsky-Wortman, owner of Momentum Coaching and Consulting and a hobby chicken farmer and gar- dener. “You may already have a skillset in managing the unknown that is already there, it just might be apply- ing it in a different time, space, resource.” Ya s h i n s k y - Wo r t m a n spoke to i n d u s - try leaders during a web seminar on resiliency in the midst of Jill COVID-19, Yashinsky- hosted by Wortman the AgFor- estry Lead- ership program and Gonzaga University. The webinar was available to current members and alumni of the Ag For- estry program. Yashinsky-Wortman said she has been de-stressing with her 19 chickens. “There has been in some ways nothing better for my mental and emotional health than to just go and hang out in my chicken yard for a little bit with my girls and just talk with them about who knows ONLINE AgForestry program: https://agforestry.org/ Momentum Coaching and Consulting: https://www.mo- mentumcoachconsult.com/ what,” she said. She asked participants to think about the ways their bodies respond to stress- ful situations, and how they behave. If they’re going to regulate their emotions, she said, what strategies can they use to feel more, if a feeling is helpful, or less, if it’s not. “Resiliency isn’t just about how we bounce back or how we adapt, it’s also about what do we learn, how are we changed?” she said. “Just like what we’re going through now — we’re adapt- ing, changing and bouncing forward. How do we use and make meaning out of what’s happening now to bounce more forward?” One participant asked the best way to manage political chaos. Yashinsky-Wortman rec- ommends people be aware of how constant knowledge of current events helps or hurts them. They should moderate their intake of news and find a healthy balance, she said. “The political chaos, in reality, isn’t going to stop, for a number of reasons,” she said. “One, we’re in a pandemic. Two, we’re in an election year. How do you moderate your own con- sumption and decide what’s important for you, and where are you going to get the information that’s important for you?” Participants should bal- ance hope and optimism with the reality of the situ- ation, Yashinsky-Wortman said. They can choose to look for positives and per- sonal purpose during the situation. She offered several tools: • Do the basics, such as eating, sleeping or exercising. • Connect with people. • Be curious about your emotions. • Give yourself per- mission to do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do. • Be realistic about find- ing your own positives and purpose. • Rediscover your strengths. • Do small chunks of big- ger actions. “People need leadership food,” said Matt Kloes, exec- utive director of the AgFor- estry program, on the pur- pose for the webinar. “They need reminders sometimes about what they may already know. In order to be effec- tive, leaders need to be pos- itive and clear-minded.” Sometimes, people just need to do something to dis- tract themselves, Yashin- sky-Wortman said. “Try wiggling your toes on one foot but not the other,” she said. “It’s really hard to do anything else when you’re thinking about that.” Washington rancher joins national beef board By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Ellensburg, Wash., rancher Marty Stingley was recently appointed to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which oversees the national Beef Checkoff. “A chance conversation led to ‘Why don’t you apply?’” Stingley told the Capital Press. “I gave it a chance to sink in and thought, OK, why not me?” Stingley has been involved in the Washington Beef Commission as liaison to the Washington Cat- tlewomen. She was the 2018 Wash- ington State Cattlewoman of the Year. Asked the industry’s biggest need, she pointed to the effects coro- navirus is hav- ing on the cattle community. “But also work- ing on a unified voice among our Marty producers would Stingley be a start,” she said. “One only has to look at our gov- ernment to realize how a divided voice becomes a waste of time, and especially money, as each one tries to diminish the voice of the other.” Consumers also must under- stand the need for beef in their lives, in both their diet and their environ- ment, she said. She said she’s seen how suc- cessful the state commission is at promoting beef and the positive response from consumers. Car- rying the message to the national level seemed like a natural step, she said. As a regional representative, she also represents Hawaii and Alaska. Stingley and her husband, Russ, run more than 800 head of cattle on their cow-calf operation with their four adult children and raise timo- thy and alfalfa hay on more than 1,200 owned and leased acres. “ My absolutely, hands down, favorite thing about ranching has been raising a family in this envi- ronment,” Stingley said. “There have been so many moments of pure joy.” The couple’s children have brought in their children, too, she said, allowing for three genera- tions to work at the same time. It’s “the best,” she said. The family also owns and oper- ates Stingley Ranch Trucking, which hauls livestock and hay. They have six trucks in their fleet. She also owns Marty Stingley Photography and manages a flock of roughly 50 Columbia-Suffolk sheep. Stingley encourages ranchers to reach out to her with questions and concerns. “Most people who know me, know my background — urban suburbia,” she said. “I wasn’t raised in a multi-generational, passed-down-through-the-years type of ranching setting, and yet, here I am — a part of building our own.” The beef board has 99 mem- bers, including domestic beef, dairy and veal producers, as well as importers of beef and beef prod- ucts. Forty-two states have individ- ual members serving on the board. The remaining states are divided into three regions. Each beef board member is appointed by the secretary of agri- culture from nominations submit- ted by organizations that represent beef and dairy producers in each state or region. Importer appoint- ments are drawn from nominations by importer associations. NAWG leader: Farm bill will have ‘huge target’ By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Market Facilitation Pro- gram payments to grow- ers were necessary due to tar- iffs and trade uncertainty, but they’ll likely put agriculture in the crosshairs as Congress begins discussions a new farm bill, a wheat industry leader says. “You take those payments, and then you add $19 billion, and then you add $16 billion, and then you add just the regu- lar farm bill programs, the farm bill has got a huge target on it,” National Association of Wheat Growers CEO Chandler Goule told the Capital Press. “I think we’re going to draw so much attention.” It likely won’t just be long- time critics of the farm bill such as the Heritage Foundation, the Environmental Working Group and the American Enterprise Institute, Goule added. “I think you’re going to have a lot of other groups com- ing out and saying, ‘Agricul- ture got a ton of money during all this — why do they need a farm bill?’” Goule said. “Really, that just shows that they don’t under- stand pro- duction Chandler agriculture.” Goule The bill mainly helps manage risk, Goule said. “I think the hill is getting steeper and steeper any time we do any type of payment, whether we’re in an emergency situation or not,” he said. Discussions about the next farm bill will likely begin next year, he said. Goule encourages wheat farmers to think about who has agriculture’s best interests at heart when voting later this year. “It’s very important who you elect in this election in November,” Goule said. “Those congressmen and sena- tors will be the ones who hold the first hearing for the 2023 Farm Bill. They’re going to set the tone and projection for that bill.” NAWG is also working with USDA’s Farm Service Agency about finding a way to speed up crop insurance pay- ments under the current farm bill, Goule said. Under statute, payments can’t be made until after Oct. 1, Goule said. But NAWG wants to know if there’s a way to leg- islatively remove that time- frame. It would benefit all farmers under the current farm bill’s Title I, he said, but must be done carefully. “Even though we are in a time of crisis, NAWG would not be supportive of opening the farm bill, because you can’t just open one title,” he said. “You either open the whole thing, or you don’t open it at all.” Goule also provided updates on: • Working at home: All NAWG staffers have moved and “adapted very well” to teleworking during the quar- antine, Goule said. The organi- zation has increased the num- ber of its staff meetings from once to twice a week, and held a board meeting last week. • Move planned: In Janu- ary, NAWG sold its building and moved into a temporary space. The permanent space in the same building has now opened up, Goule said. • Stay in touch: Farm- ers experiencing any difficul- ties due to COVID-19 and the quarantine should contact their state wheat growers associa- tion and NAWG, Goule said. The organization speaks weekly with White House and USDA representatives to provide examples of prob- lems, he said. “All 50 states are handling this differently,” he said. “We want to make sure commerce and the supply chain continue to flow seamlessly so we can keep food on the shelves in the grocery stores.” Northwest Ag Show Presented by Harvest Capital Company January 13-15, 2021 | Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center Secure your booth! The Northwest Agricultural Show is proud to take place in Salem and Marion County. Marion County leads the state in agriculture production. We will celebrate the important role that agriculture plays in the local economy and in the lives of many across the state and the Northwest. Booth space is limited, so make sure to lock-in your space today! NorthwestAgShow.com WE SPECIALIZE IN BULK BAGS! 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