Assessing Relationship Between Goat and Sheep Farmers' Stress and Their Demographics: A Pilot Study

Limited leisure time, insufficient sleep, and family members' health conditions were the top personal stressors. Occupational stressors were too much to do in so little time, worrying about the farm's future and financial issues. Governmental regulation, market prices, and unpredictable weather conditions were off-farm occupational stressors. The work hours during the busy season and farm size were significant predictors of farmers' stress. The farmer's age and years in the farm business were not significant predictors of the farmer's stress.

This pilot study aims to investigate goat and sheep farmers' stress amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors developed a questionnaire based on existing literature to measure farmers' stress. The online questionnaire was sent to the 3000 goat and sheep farmers registered in the Penn State Extension Listserv. We used the technique described by Dillman et al. (2014) to collect online data. After cleaning the data, the response rate was 6.8% (n = 204). The mean and SD for farmer's stress were 3.0±.63 out of 5, occupational stress 3.11±.65, and personal stress 2.80 ± .82, respectively. During the COVID-19 pandemic, work hours during the busy season and farm size exhibited a positive low association with farmers' stress (r_s = .245 and r_s = .238, respectively). They predicted 10% of the total variation in farmers' stress. We propose that extension professionals and public health practitioners learn lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic in case other public health concerns arise. We suggest that future educational programs addressing stress among farmers prioritize specific strategies to reduce occupational stress and cope with uncertainty during health-related outbreaks or other crises. An interesting avenue for further investigation can involve examining other issues related to farmers' financial planning, time management (especially during the busy season), and their relationships with family members.