USDA program aims to help suicidal farmers and ranchers - Entrepreneur Generations

The past few years have been among the worst for U.S. agriculture in decades, and farmers have struggled to cope with a trade war that has eroded markets and bad weather and flooding. As farm bankruptcies and loan delinquencies rise, so too are farmer suicides, apparently, Annie Gowen reports for The Washington Post.

"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," Gowen reports.

An increase in calls to suicide hotlines from farmers has prompted state and federal officials to put more funding into programs aimed at improving farmers' mental health. "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," Gowen reports. The Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill but left unfunded for more than a decade.

The USDA also started a $450,000 pilot program training workers on how to help farmers in extreme emotional distress and make mental health referrals for them, Gowen reports.

Here are some farmer suicide prevention and mental-health resources:

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 (24 hours)
• Crisis Text Line: 741-741 (24 hours)
• Farm Aid farmer hotline: 1-800-327-6243 (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern)
• National Farmers Union Farm Crisis Center
• Suicide warning signs: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
• The Rural Health Information Hub's Rural Suicide Prevention Toolkit.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2O35LvQ USDA program aims to help suicidal farmers and ranchers - Entrepreneur Generations

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