NCGA’s Dan Nerud Talks Candidly About Seeking Help for Depression: “It’s a Game Changer”

Dan Nerud is a fourth-generation farmer from southeast Nebraska. He serves as a director for the Nebraska Corn Board and Board member for the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA). Nerud joined me at Commodity Classic to talk about producer groups, farming with family, and mental health. 

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Meet Dan Nerud

The Nerud family farm, which sits around 40 miles southeast of Lincoln, Nebraska, features both dryland and irrigated crops. Dan Nerud, his wife, and their two grown sons grow corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa and have a cow-calf operation. They have worked together to establish a farm transition plan.

In addition to his regular roles with the corn groups, Nerud serves as liaison between NCGA and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He travels extensively on behalf of the boards, with recent trips focused on the Farm Bill and year-round availability of E15 ethanol blended fuel.

Nerud shared his experience with depression, which multiple studies show is between 2-5 times higher in farmers than the rest of the population. He said being prescribed antidepressants was a game-changer for him, and his goal is to make sure other farmers dealing with depression know there is help available.

Episode Highlights

• Nerud and his family run a diverse operation in southeast Nebraska, growing corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa, and raising cattle.
• His farm’s transition plan has allowed his sons to take on more responsibility, freeing him to serve on state and national corn producer groups.
• Nerud’s involvement in agricultural boards has taken him across the country advocating for key issues like the Farm Bill and E15 ethanol.
• Through sharing his experience with depression, Nerud hopes to break the stigma surrounding mental health in rural communities and among farmers.
• Nerud revealed that starting antidepressants was a “game changer” in his life, improving not only his mood but his relationships and work.
• He stressed the importance of watching out for others, encouraging family and friends to speak up if they notice changes in a loved one.
• Nerud’s message is simple but powerful: there is help, better days are possible, and even small steps toward treatment can transform lives.

Links and Resources

• If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. If texting is preferred, text HOME to 741741 for free crisis support 24 hours a day in the U.S. If the risk is immediate, call 911.
• Learn more about the Nebraska Corn Board and NCGA.

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Transcript

Please note: This transcript has not been edited.

Lisa Foust Prater: Welcome to the 15 Minutes With a Farmer podcast from Successful Farming. I’m your host, Lisa Foust Prater. Today, my guest is Dan Nerud, a fourth-generation corn, soybean and wheat farmer and cattle producer from southeast Nebraska. He serves as director of the Nebraska Corn Board and also a Board member of the National Corn Growers Association. Dan joined me at commodity classic to talk about producer groups, farming with family, and mental health. 

In each episode, I have a quick 15 minute conversation with a farmer to hear their story and share their experience, expertise, and life lessons. 

So why don’t you tell us first a little bit about your life in Nebraska and your background? 

Dan Nerud: Well, I’m Dan Nerud, Southeast Nebraska. Dorchester would be our hometown, which would be about 35, 40 miles southwest of Lincoln. I farm with my wife. Both my sons are back home right now. It gives me the opportunity to do these things and I currently serve as a director on the Nebraska Corn Board and also I’m here because I serve on the National Corn Growers Board. 

We’re irrigated and dry land. Corn, soybeans, a little bit of wheat, alfalfa, and my oldest son and I each have a cow-calf herd. So yeah, there’s definitely diversity right where I live and the home place where my son lives. We’re dry land, but you get a mile away and then the irrigation starts. 

Lisa Foust Prater: Is this the operation where you grew up as well? 

Dan Nerud: Yes, I am the fourth generation and I have both my sons home and they are the fifth generation and I have two grandsons, which who knows if they’ll ever be back, but you you like to think that way. 

Lisa Foust Prater: When you decided to bring your sons into the operation, how did that go? I mean, did you have to expand or look for other, you know, revenue streams or how did that go for you? 

Dan Nerud: Well, we kind of knew there was a good chance my oldest would probably come back. He’s been back about 18 years full time. And my youngest son came back. This will be his fourth year.

My wife and I both turned 67 and we started transitioning some ground last year and we transitioned about three-fourths of our ground to the boys this year. So I’m gonna stay involved. I always will. But yeah, it was hard coming back, you know having them come back. It was enjoyable, but it was How do I say I was constantly calling on the business radio or checking up: “How’s going?” and now it’s kind of like, “Guys, you’re doing great. Take care of it.” 

Lisa Foust Prater: It’s so good when you have anyone who’s working with you, but especially your own children, that you can really trust them to do the right thing and that they know what they’re doing. That’s so huge. 

Dan Nerud: Well, it makes a person very proud. Yes, and they’ve done a good job. And I’m one of those, I do believe. It was the same way. You learn by trial and error. Yes. But you learn by it and they do a great job and that gives me the opportunity to serve on these boards.

I served on my country school board for about a year and a half, two years. I served on a local co-op board for about 14 years, major co-op, and I got asked to sit on just a local county Corn Growers Board and accepted and kind of went through officers there and then got asked to be like the representative from our local onto the State Corn Growers Board, went through officers there. I’ve transitioned to the Corn Board now and I probably served about 12 years on National Corn on action teams and committees. And I ran for the board, was elected last July and started last October for a three-year term on the National Corn Growers. There’s 15 of us directors across the country. 

Lisa Foust Prater: That’s amazing. You know, like once you get started working on with boards like that, it feels like it’s just you can’t stop. 

Dan Nerud: And it’s very funny when you say that because on the state level, we were able to do some training sessions, media and just learning through national. And I remember one of the questions we had to answer was, well, okay, you’re here. What’s your intentions? Do you want to ever go any farther? Mine was an absolute no. And now look where it is. But if I wouldn’t have done this, I wouldn’t have met all the people I have from across the country and actually other countries. Very good friendships.

I’ve probably been involved for about 12 years already, serving on action teams, committees. I chaired some, served as president of the National Corn PAC for about five, six years. 

Lisa Foust Prater: Tell me about what you’ve been able to do on those boards as far as traveling and spreading the word about corn? 

Dan Nerud: Well, you always travel a little bit, just even being on an action team. Now, I suppose I’ve traveled about 40 days already this year since the first. We’ve had meetings in Louisville where the action teams and everybody met, and we met as a board. We had a board retreat that we went to to work over things just kind of get away casually. I am liaison from National Corn to National Cattlemen’s. So I attended CattleCon, their convention in San Antonio. I’m being more just starting into the National Grains Council as a delegate and might apply for one of their A-teams they call it. 

A lot of traveling, I would say what we’re working on, some of the most important would be the farm bill and the E-15 right now. And then coming in now with what’s happened is the tariffs. Anything, we’re just supporting, I like, we’re supporting corn, but when you do that, we’re supporting agriculture. 

Lisa Foust Prater: Yeah. That’s amazing. That’s so great. You know, one of the other sort of topics that you and I had touched on when we chatted before is a subject that I know is important to you and is also very important to me and that is mental health as it relates to those of us involved in agriculture. It is such a stressful industry. There are so many things that are out of your control. You can’t control the markets, the weather, the price of inputs. It’s so difficult and so stressful. Mental health is a real, real issue that we have got to talk more about.

Dan Nerud: Yes, and you know for a lot of people in my area if they hear this, my friends, a lot of them don’t realize the struggle I have had with depression over the years and I think I have to admit I didn’t even realize how bad my depression was until now. 

I am in my fourth month of actually being on antidepressants. The only way I would explain it is it is a game changer. I realize it may not work for everybody and there’s different avenues you need to visit with your doctor and everything. I think what people need to realize if somebody does have depression, my problem was exactly what you said, it was things that really upset me was I can’t control the weather, the prices, the breakdowns. But what people need to realize, it can lead to deeper thoughts. And we need to realize that it does not only affect the person, like in this case myself, but it affects the family that you’re working with. It’ll affect wives or spouses or parents or down to the grandchildren.

So the reason I’m talking about it is if I can help one person to recognize or a family member recognize that maybe they have somebody in their family that, hey, it might be getting just past the normal worrying stage. Please seek help. There is help out there. There is always a better day. 

The point I want to make is there are hotlines out there. If you’re not comfortable going in, you can work your way to that point. I think one thing I want to bring up, don’t be afraid. I think the reason so many people do not admit or seek help is I call it the stigmatism of mental health. They don’t want to, they’re afraid somebody’s gonna think that, my God, that this person has a problem or he’s really not well or is he thinking correctly. It’s not that way. When I say we, the people that have the depression or more of a severe mental health, we just need a little help to get our life back in order. In my case, it is almost a minuscule dosage that I am taking.

But the only way I can explain it is as a game changer. And my wife would say the same thing.

Lisa Foust Prater: It’s so amazing. It benefits you. It benefits your marriage. It benefits your relationship with your kids and with your friends and coworkers, everything. 

Dan Nerud: It makes life so much easier. Even though I always enjoyed what I was doing. I enjoyed having the boys. I love my grandkids. Yeah. It’s even more enjoyable now. It makes life easier, it makes the day go better, you enjoy working with people more. I don’t know how to more to explain it. 

Lisa Foust Prater: Right, yeah, no, I totally get that. you know, I think that’s, you one of the reasons like you mentioned with just like the stigma. That’s why it’s so important to just talk about it, you know, and I’ve been open about it and you know, columns I’ve written and panels I’ve, you know, been on that, you know, and I’ve never had any negative feedback. The only feedback I’ve had is people saying, I’m so glad you talked about that because me too, you know, I’m in the same boat. And I think so many of us are, it’s hard times, you know? 

Dan Nerud: There are a lot more people out there with depression, even if it’s a very mild, but just for some people, just being able to admit they need to talk to somebody might be all they need. But just make that attempt. And I guess I would say, like I said, or if as a family member you see a friend or somebody, make sure that they’re okay. If it is hard to talk to them as a friend, maybe talk to one of their family members. Hey, I’ve noticed a difference in my friend. Have you noticed anything? There’s way to work into the conversation.

Lisa Foust Prater: And chances are if you’ve noticed it, so have they, and maybe they just don’t know what to do. 

Dan Nerud: Or it’s back to the stigmatism. They don’t know what to do or should we do anything. 

Lisa Foust Prater: Right. And you should, because it can lead to a very dark place.The suicide rate among farmers and ranchers is just astronomically high compared to the rest of the population.

Dan Nerud: It’s too high. We need it at zero. Absolutely. 

Lisa Foust Prater: And it’s horrible to think about how those folks must feel. And even to think about what it does to their family that’s left behind. It’s just so tragic. So I love it that we are talking about this because it just feels like the more we can do that, the better. It’s going to do nothing but help everybody. 

Dan Nerud: My goal in this, if I help one person, and maybe that person will help somebody, we’ve made a difference. That’s all I can hope for. The difference it’s made in me, I just want people to realize you can feel better. 

Lisa Foust Prater: Yeah, for sure. And that there are brighter days ahead. You just have to hold on. 

Dan Nerud: Definitely. 

Lisa Foust Prater: I thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today and I look forward to seeing what’s next for you. 

Dan Nerud: Well, thank you and I appreciate you letting me be on the podcast and bringing up the subject of mental health. Very important, I just want people to realize there is help. Talk to somebody. Thank you very much. 

Lisa Foust Prater: Absolutely. And I will include in our show notes on the website, I will include links to more resources so folks can find help for themselves or someone else.

Thank you for listening. Please subscribe, rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Open the latest issue of Successful Farming and visit us online at agriculture.com for more interesting features and news for your farm. Join me next week for another episode of 15 Minutes With a Farmer.