Farmers in the United States are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population, according to the National Rural Health Association. Research from South Dakota State University, the University of Nevada, Reno, University of Georgia, and more have found that farmers experience significantly higher stress levels than the general population. This chronic stress puts farmers at a higher risk of developing health conditions including heart disease, hypertension, depression, and anxiety disorders. Thankfully, nonprofit organizations, farmers’ coalitions, and other organizations are working to remove the barriers preventing farmers from accessing suicide prevention assistance.
“In farming, you’ve got to pour yourself into it and it becomes your life,” says Jake Beeler, a third-generation farmer in Wisconsin who partners with specialty meat company Niman Ranch to market his cattle. “You have it bred into you at a young age…to just do the work, get it done, throw your stuff on the back burner, and ignore it. That mentality doesn’t work, but that’s what’s been bred into the farming families.”
Agriculture is often wrapped into farmers’ identities, which can exasperate the stressors inherent to the job, says Remington Rice, PhD, Health and Farm Stress Extension Educator at Michigan State University Extension.
“When you’re a farmer, you live, sleep, and breathe agriculture. It’s really a way of life as well as a profession,” says Rice. “And when the farm is threatened, it is a threat to your identity and your purpose in life at a higher level.”
In 2021, 63 percent of farmers and farmworkers surveyed by the American Farm Bureau Federation said that there is at least some stigma around stress and mental health in the agriculture community. Farmers are often hesitant to seek help in small rural communities, where their vehicle might be recognized in the parking lot of a mental healthcare facility, and they struggle to connect with providers who understand their way of life.
“It’s challenging for farmers to find the time to seek or schedule treatment while working long days, or to find health care providers who understand the unique challenges of farming, the intersections with climate change and climate stress, and the inextricable link between their work, their livelihood, and their sense of purpose in the world,” says Katherine Un, Co-Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition.
Major mental health organizations across the U.S. have support programs designed to address rural and agricultural health, but few focus specifically on farmer mental health. For example, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has funded 12 Centers for Agricultural Safety and Health nationwide, which largely focus on physical health and safety but sometimes collaborate on farmer mental health regionally. The National Institute of Mental Health has also funded numerous mental health research projects but lacks a specific focus on farmer mental health.
Farmers who do seek help may need to drive hours to appointments. Half of the counties in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, for example, have no psychiatrists serving residents. And many farmers lack health insurance or funds to cover out-of-pocket expenses for mental health treatment: 41 percent of U.S. dairy farmers don’t have any health insurance coverage, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“I’m sure there are mental health resources, but anybody that I know that ends up going down that road, money is a huge issue,” says Beeler. “Why go spend money talking to somebody when I could be at work getting stuff done? That’s the mindset that gets bred into you as a farmer.”
Beeler and his family mitigate financial stress by working with Niman Ranch, a network of more than 600 small, independent U.S. family farmers and ranchers that uphold high standards of sustainable and humane farming in exchange for a guaranteed market for their products. This has provided stability in a volatile market, as well as a community and robust support network of fellow farmers.
“We have been very blessed and fortunate with Niman, just with what they do for farmers,” says Beeler. “Our finances aren’t great but they’re also not bad. We’re still afloat, and I do thank them for that…they’ve always tried to keep us moving forward, that’s their main goal.”
Beeler’s faith, church, and close-knit community have played a critical role in helping him overcome mental health struggles like depression in the past. And according to Ted Matthews, Director of the Rural Mental Health Outreach program in Minnesota, this type of basic community support can go a long way. Taking any action to reach out to a farmer who might be in need is better than doing nothing.
“Oftentimes…the higher the stress level that they have, the more they pull back, the less they talk, the less they share, until they get to a point where they just simply don’t feel like they can handle it anymore,” says Matthews. “Truthfully, this is a community issue…do something. Remember, if you’re wrong and they’re actually fine, then you’re a little bit embarrassed. If you’re right, you might have saved a life.”
Organizations such as Annie’s Project are providing community-based mental health solutions outside of the traditional therapy model. The nonprofit partners on Cultivating Resiliency Programs, which are anonymous opportunities for farmers to get together virtually and share what’s on their minds with both their peers and licensed counselors.
“It’s amazing the things that get talked about,” says Doris Mold, Co-CEO of Annie’s Project. Providing connection and community can make a significant impact: farmers have told Mold that Cultivating Resiliency programs saved their lives.
And the Young Farmers Cultivemos network facilitates farmer cohorts, regular farmer-led and farmer-centered events, newsletters, resource-sharing, and training to improve farmers’ mental health and wellbeing. Un says that resources and spaces that truly build community are key in fighting isolation and addressing mental health challenges.
“Farmers are often the best support for one another as they thoroughly understand the challenges, risks, and rewards of the industry and by nature have a deep understanding of how to create truly farmer- and equity-centric resources,” says Un.
But Un emphasizes that—in addition to these support networks—work is needed at the policy level to address the root causes of the farmer mental health crisis.
“As a country, we need to meaningfully address the top challenges facing the new generation of farmers and ranchers: affordable land access, access to capital, climate change, health insurance, student loan debt, affordable housing, racial inequity,” says Un. “Until these barriers are addressed through the Farm Bill, farmers will continue to face high levels of stress, uncertainty, financial risk, and a lack of safety nets.”
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Photo courtesy of Rebecca Ritchie, Unsplash
