How Farmers at Risk for Suicide Can Find Mental Health Help

Frederica Freyberg:
In other health related news, the number of farmers facing significant mental health challenges has been increasing for decades. But what can be done about it? “Here & Now” reporter Steven Potter has this story about the efforts of state-funded programs and the growth in volunteer groups stepping up to meet the need and help farmers. As a warning, the following story does discuss suicide.

Jennifer Webster:
He was always the happy guy who had a good story to share, and everybody’s like, “I never would have thought your dad would have done this.”

Steven Potter:
Growing up in northwestern Wisconsin where her family has raised cows and grown crops on the same stretch of land since the 1880s, Jennifer Webster remembers her father as a proud farmer.

Jennifer Webster:
I think my dad chose to farm because he truly enjoyed it. He enjoyed being a steward of the land.

Steven Potter:
She says the work was difficult but rewarding.

Jennifer Webster:
Especially like when you plant the crop, you see it through to the growing season and then you harvest it. And he really enjoyed to see all of his hard work pay off.

Steven Potter:
But over the years, things changed.

Jennifer Webster:
He had had a rough spring just with how the farming economy was going. He had mentioned to my mom that farming wasn’t fun anymore a couple of months before he had died.

Steven Potter:
And then her father, Brian Webster, made one last decision that would send shockwaves through his family and the local farming community.

Jennifer Webster:
He died by suicide, actually, on our farm in August of 2023.

Steven Potter:
While no one expected he would take his own life, her father did have known problems with his mental health, problems he was trying to solve.

Jennifer Webster:
He was actually seeking medical care for depression. He was on medication and actually was going to go to therapy. But for whatever reason, he couldn’t find a solution to different things that were bothering him.

Steven Potter:
The Webster family isn’t alone in the grief of losing a farmer and loved one to suicide. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, suicide in rural parts of America increased 46% from 2000 to 2020. That’s nearly twice the suicide rate of urban areas. More specifically, according to the National Rural Health Association, farmers and agriculture workers have a suicide rate that’s 3.5 times higher than the general population. Several individuals, organizations and government agencies are trying to make sense of these heightened suicide statistics. One of them is Karen Endres, who runs the Farmer Wellness Program for the State of Wisconsin Farm Center.

Karen Endres:
When farmers don’t take care of their emotional wellness, it becomes very challenging. They’re isolating. They also overwork, and it gets to be very stressful. The number one stressor for farmers is time management. There’s just not enough time in the day to get everything done that we need to get done to take care of our land, as well as take care of our livestock.

Steven Potter:
With her own experience as a dairy farmer, Endres says that agricultural work is full of uncertainty.

Karen Endres:
We don’t have a lot of stability, so that is a very large stressor for farmers is the market conditions. And in the world we are today when we just — we don’t have control over trade agreements and other things, and that can add a lot of pressure when you don’t know what your income will be.

Steven Potter:
Webster adds that there are several other stressors, like severe weather and sick animals.

Jennifer Webster:
You kind of have to be able to adjust.

Steven Potter:
But she says some farmers are not able to adjust and can’t cope with the pressure.

Jennifer Webster:
They don’t talk about it so they kind of crawl into a hole because farmers are very prideful. They think that they can manage it. We’re finding more and more farmers are experiencing depression because they’re keeping it all bottled up. So it’s really hard to really be able to express those and put your pride aside and say, and raise your hand and say, “I’m struggling.”

Steven Potter:
There are state-run programs designed specifically for farmers struggling with their mental health.

Karen Endres:
We connect farmers to either in-person or telehealth visits with licensed clinical social workers, counselors throughout our state that are interested in working with farmers.

Steven Potter:
Endres says a 24-7 mental health helpline as well as online support groups and therapy vouchers offered through the state’s Farmer Wellness Program, have seen a spike in interest over the last few years.

Karen Endres:
I’ve seen a lot in increase in the volume of calls, whether that’s more people being aware of the program or increased stress on our farms. But it’s all of us out there. We’re dealing in some very heavy times right now.

Steven Potter:
Overall, the 24-7 farmer helpline has seen nearly 750 calls this year, and the therapy voucher system has grown from about 200 vouchers issued in 2021 to 500 vouchers issued this year. Farmers are also becoming more willing to share with each other.

Karen Endres:
Our online support groups were up over 50% in attendance last year. We created a new group last year just to fill the demand of people wanting to connect, wanting to talk.

Steven Potter:
Aside from the cost of a therapist and the difficulty of finding one and getting an appointment, there’s another barrier that stops some farmers from seeking help with their mental health. And that’s the stigma behind admitting that they need help in the first place.

Katie Glanville:
They work really long hours, and a lot of them are just — you’re raised to be very independent and self-reliant.

Steven Potter:
Katie Glanville of Southwest Health Behavioral Services in Grant County, says that her client base of farmers and their problems continues to grow.

Katie Glanville:
The biggest ones I probably see are like the depression and anxiety. And then also, again, kind of starting to use substances to help cope because they don’t know where else to turn.

Steven Potter:
But once farmers do get some help, things begin to improve.

Katie Glanville:
Just helping to kind of get over that stigma or that kind of sense of, I’m really hesitant to do this. You can tell, like, they’re starting to take care of themselves a little bit more, or they’re starting to feel like spirits are up a little more.

Karen Endres:
We’re all working together to try to help farmers understand that it’s okay not to be okay.

Steven Potter:
Families like the Websters know that nothing will bring their loved ones back, but they can try to help other farmers from sinking so deep into depression and hopelessness that they end their own lives. And that’s where organizations like the Farmer Angel Network come in.

Jennifer Webster:
The Farmer Angel Network is an organization that focuses around farmer to farmer suicide prevention. We are an organization that, in western Wisconsin, really promotes fellowship and encouraging conversations in our community around farm mental health.

Steven Potter:
Through her chapter of the network, Webster and others have raised awareness about the struggles farmers face by hosting community events like picnics and educating health care providers. Their goal is to make farmers feel seen, recognized, and appreciated.

Jennifer Webster:
One other thing we do is we do what I call random acts of kindness. So we give gift cards to farmers where, especially if you’re a dairy farmer, going out for dinner with your family can be really challenging.

Steven Potter:
As she and her brothers and mother still at the Webster Farm know that help is needed now more than ever.

Jennifer Webster:
We definitely want to be able to give them a sense of hope that, that their life is, is worth living. Their farm is worth, is worth the fight. And just giving them a sense of hope and opportunity and providing resources for them to help them cope.

Steven Potter:
Reporting from Pierce County, I’m Steven Potter for “Here & Now.”