Washington

Don McMoran, Washington AgrAbility program director, met with Dr. Majit Misra, director of USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture), at the National Association of County Agricultural Agents meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. He will be traveling to Washington D.C. to participate in the Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services at a farm stress and suicide prevention briefing. The event will take place during the National Farm Safety and Health Week and Suicide Prevention Month.

Emily Whittier, Washington AgrAbility co-coordinator, attended the Clark County Fair just outside of Vancouver, WA; the Skamania County Fair, which took place right next to the beautiful Columbia River; and Klickitat County Fair and Rodeo. Whittier tabled on behalf of the agricultural suicide prevention program and Washington AgrAbility, and invited fair attendees to engage with the displays through sticker voting on ideas the team learned from the fantastic AgrAbility webinar, "Making Lemonade When Outreach Events Hand You Lemons." Farmers and community members in attendance voted on their stressors, and placed stickers on a silhouette where they "felt pain or resistance." The WA AgrAbility team is excited to use this information to guide their messaging and programming.

Submitted by Alyssa Wade