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'I'm gonna lose everything'
National
‘I’m gonna lose everything’
A farm family struggles to recover after rising debt pushes a husband to suicide
By Annie Gowen
NOVEMBER 9, 2019
....
In farm country, mental health experts say they’re seeing more suicides as families endure the worst period for U.S. agriculture in decades. Farm bankruptcies and loan delinquencies are rising, calamitous weather events are ruining crops, and profits are vanishing during Trump’s global trade disputes.
A 2017 study found that farm owners and workers were three to five times as likely to kill themselves on the job compared with other occupations. Researchers studying more recent data have not yet determined if farmer suicides are increasing, but leaders and social workers in rural America say that, anecdotally, they’re seeing more of these deaths. Calls to suicide hotlines around farm country have risen, prompting new federal and state programs targeting farmers’ mental health, including support groups, public awareness campaigns and funding for counseling.
The Agriculture Department is setting up the first $1.9 million phase of a farm and ranch stress support network to expand emergency hotlines, training and support groups for farmers and ranchers. In addition, the department started a $450,000 pilot program to train some of its workers in how to help farmers in extreme distress and make mental health referrals for them.
Here in South Dakota, the trade disputes and extreme weather have devastated farmers and ranchers — often isolated in rural areas, with little access to services — said Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R), a lifelong rancher who is working to expand the state’s suicide prevention efforts.
Calls to the statewide suicide hotline were up 61 percent last year, and South Dakota’s largest regional health system, Avera Health, launched a special hotline in January to help farmers and ranchers.
....
Julie Tate contributed to this report.
A storm moves in Sept. 3 near the Dykshorns' farm. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
‘I’m gonna lose everything’
A farm family struggles to recover after rising debt pushes a husband to suicide
By Annie Gowen
NOVEMBER 9, 2019
....
In farm country, mental health experts say they’re seeing more suicides as families endure the worst period for U.S. agriculture in decades. Farm bankruptcies and loan delinquencies are rising, calamitous weather events are ruining crops, and profits are vanishing during Trump’s global trade disputes.
A 2017 study found that farm owners and workers were three to five times as likely to kill themselves on the job compared with other occupations. Researchers studying more recent data have not yet determined if farmer suicides are increasing, but leaders and social workers in rural America say that, anecdotally, they’re seeing more of these deaths. Calls to suicide hotlines around farm country have risen, prompting new federal and state programs targeting farmers’ mental health, including support groups, public awareness campaigns and funding for counseling.
The Agriculture Department is setting up the first $1.9 million phase of a farm and ranch stress support network to expand emergency hotlines, training and support groups for farmers and ranchers. In addition, the department started a $450,000 pilot program to train some of its workers in how to help farmers in extreme distress and make mental health referrals for them.
Here in South Dakota, the trade disputes and extreme weather have devastated farmers and ranchers — often isolated in rural areas, with little access to services — said Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R), a lifelong rancher who is working to expand the state’s suicide prevention efforts.
Calls to the statewide suicide hotline were up 61 percent last year, and South Dakota’s largest regional health system, Avera Health, launched a special hotline in January to help farmers and ranchers.
....
Julie Tate contributed to this report.
A storm moves in Sept. 3 near the Dykshorns' farm. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
https://twitter.com/anniegowen
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