Asked to picture rural America, most will conjure bucolic images of rolling hills, green meadows, and livestock peacefully grazing on pasture, dotted by the silhouettes of the hardworking, salt-of-the-Earth folks who work the countryside. These communities, however, conceal a darker secret. Having grown up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, where the closest town was populated by a mere 500 people, I am a rural American. My firsthand perspective was shaped by living in a small community of industrious, independent, resilient people who were kind and quick to lend a hand.

Rural Minds Founder and Chairman Jeff Winton interviewed by NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen's Russell Nemetz. Normalizing conversations about mental illness and how to recognize the warning signs of mental illness among farmers and ranchers. In recent years, a number of organizations have started to focus more on mental health – and mental health resources – for people living in rural America. Jeff Winton, founder of Rural Minds, discusses some of the barriers that are unique to rural residents when it comes to seeking mental health services and how his company is helping to improve mental health resources in rural areas.