Agrability and partner organizations outlined expansions to rural mental‑health training, outreach and crisis‑response resources for Colorado farmers, ranchers and agricultural workers during a virtual stakeholder meeting; presenters said the effort includes adapted therapy trainings, community “coffee‑break” peer gatherings and a six‑session telehealth offering.

The meeting brought together CSU Extension Agrability staff, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union representatives and county and state partners to review program activity, resource numbers and next steps for a statewide outreach plan. Presenters described the program’s focus on suicide prevention, resiliency training and navigation to behavioral‑health services for producers and their families.

The work matters because rural Colorado has fewer mental‑health providers per capita than urban areas, presenters said, and farm and ranch populations face unique stressors (isolation, long hours, weather and financial pressures) that programs intend to address through outreach, adapted clinical training and peer connection events.

At the meeting, a CSU Extension Agrability presenter summarized the program’s scope: “El proyecto Agrability ha estado en lugar por 24 años en Colorado y da servicio a como 700 familias de granjas y ranchos,” and added that the program has recently expanded to include suicide‑prevention training and additional funding for mental‑health activities. The presenter said Agrability has provided trainings and workshops to rural community members and has worked with Colorado Farm Bureau and the Colorado Department of Agriculture as partners.

Program details presented to the group included:
- Training and workforce development: presenters said Agrability and partners have trained roughly 197 community members and 75 facilitators in community trainings and that since 2022 they have delivered an adapted three‑hour cognitive‑behavioral therapy (CBT) training for clinicians; the presenter reported more than 200 mental‑health professionals participated in the CBT adaptation and that nearly all respondents indicated they intended to apply the training. Those counts were presented by program staff during the meeting.
- Direct service metrics: presenters reported providing “706 hours” of free services for 273 providers and family members during a recent fiscal start period (figures reported in the meeting). They also said program hours logged included support for substance‑use concerns, daily stress management and family/interpersonal work, with presenters noting the highest identified issues were stress and anxiety, trauma/post‑traumatic stress and depression.
- Rapid‑response and peer outreach: presenters described community events such as a “Coffee Break” program in Rocky Ford that offers free coffee and donuts to encourage social connection among producers, and peer gatherings that aim to reduce isolation. The group discussed funding to cover small event costs (the presenter described $8 per event per producer for pizza at some gatherings).
- Telehealth and short‑term therapy access: presenters described a partner program offering six free mental‑health sessions (including family access) for agricultural workers and families; meeting presenters urged attendees to save the program’s hotline number (described in the meeting as a 10‑digit line) and to use partner navigation services by phone or email.

Presenters also described partnerships with county public health and behavioral‑health administrators; one speaker said a behavioral health administration provided a $50,000 grant in the past year to support programming in one region. The group discussed gaps in geographic coverage and said they will continue to recruit regional partners to cover underserved counties.

Meeting organizers asked members to provide short bios and preferred contact info for a proposed public webpage and a one‑page brochure to help community members know who to contact. Organizers also proposed a regular monthly meeting schedule in which two programs would present for five to ten minutes each, and they asked members to sign up for presentation slots in a shared planning document.

A county/state presenter reviewed Colorado’s open‑records rules for working groups and cautioned participants that emails, notes and recordings related to the group may be subject to the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). That presenter advised members to route any official records requests through the designated agency contact and warned, “If you don’t want something on the front page of the Denver Post, don’t put it in writing,” explaining that personal devices and home computers used for group work can produce records responsive to a CORA request.

The meeting ended with organizers asking members to review a draft work plan and share edits by email, and with plans to reconvene in about a month and to schedule an in‑person meeting when feasible.

Sources: Presentations and discussion at the stakeholder meeting, as recorded in the meeting transcript. No formal motions or votes were taken during the discussion.