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| Ranch hands drive cattle to a new pasture against the backdrop of hills covered in wildflowers in April 2017 in Taft, California; the farming industry is bolstering outreach efforts amid a surge in suicides across the US |
Responding to signs of rising despair in rural America over a farming downturn exacerbated by the current trade war fears, agricultural leaders are mobilizing to try to prevent another suicide crisis.
Two high
profile deaths in the past week, of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and fashion
designer Kate Spade, have shined a spotlight on the issue of depression and
suicide in the United States, where the latest data show rates are rising,
especially in rural states.
Farm
industry officials are bolstering outreach and counseling programs throughout
the American farm belt and calling for more action from Washington.
"Things
are tough in the countryside," said John Sorbello, a vegetable and nursery
farmer in upstate New York and a director of the state's farm bureau, an
affiliate of the nation's biggest farm group.
Dairy farmers
are facing especially tough times, he said.
"There's
nothing to do over the pricing of milk, they are worried about NAFTA, about the
surplus in dairy products all over the world," Sorbello said.
"It
seems you have no control over it and it's stressful."
Earlier
this year, one of the large dairy cooperatives took the drastic step of
including suicide prevention information with the monthly check.
"Some
people thought it was too extreme," Sorbello said. "But it got
everybody's attention."
The outreach
push comes amid a big surge in suicides throughout the United States. The
suicide rate rose nearly 30 percent between 1999 and 2016 -- and in many states
by more than that -- according to a report this week from the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The report
did not break out individual industries, but 2016 CDC data showed US farmers
have five times the rate of suicide as the broader population.
The US farm
belt also has bad memories of the 1980s when a bruising industry downturn saw an
explosion of agricultural workers taking their own lives.
Crisis
"Farmers
and ranchers already have the highest suicide rates of any occupation,"
said Matt Perdue, of the National Farmers Union.
Those who
work in rural areas point to myriad factors, including commodity price
volatility, more extreme weather and worsening isolation as more young people
leave for the cities.
And making
matters worse, "About 60% of rural residents live in areas that suffer
from a mental health professional shortage," Perdue said.
The CDC
study also pointed to research that suggests chronic exposure to pesticides
"might affect the neurologic system and contribute to depressive
symptoms."
Financial
stress is one factor that can lead to suicide and farm incomes have fallen
around 50 percent since 2013 and revenues are expected in 2018 to come in at
the lowest level since 2006.
The
National Farmers Union, at the urging of members who see growing numbers of
growers fearful of losing the family farm, urged the US Department of
Agriculture to "proactively address the farm suicide crisis."
Lawmakers
voted in 2008 to bolster mental health services in agricultural communities as
part of an omnibus farm bill, but no funds have been allocated to the effort.
There is a
chance Congress could provide support in a bill now being considered, but
"it's too early to make a prediction one way or the other," Perdue
said.
The
troubles facing farmers extend well beyond the United States.
France in
early 2018 boosted its funding for anti-suicide programs following a rise in
the number of calls for help.
And India
has also suffered a wave of farm suicides after many in the sector became mired
in debt.
'Not an
occupation'
NY FarmNet
at Cornell University, which was founded in 1986 amid a rash of suicides,
provides free aide to farmers in need.
"We
send one financial consultant and one farm family consultant to each case, as
we have found that even if the case presents itself as purely a financial
matter, there are almost always underlying personal or communication issues
that need attention," said Hal McCabe, outreach director at NY FarmNet.
Hearing of
rising concern in rural communities, the group has conducted suicide prevention
workshops aimed mainly at agricultural services workers, such as bankers,
suppliers or farm maintenance staff.
"While
we cannot speak to suicides, as that data is very hard to ever come by, the
types of calls we are getting are far more dire than in the past five-10
years," McCabe said.
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