State Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding and state Sen. Elder Vogel Jr. lead roundtable discussion on mental healthcare for farmers.
CENTER TWP. — Crawford County dairy farmer Jessica Peters occasionally takes the time to meet with a group of farmers in her area to talk.
It’s not a formal counseling or therapy session, she said, but just the chance to get away from the pressures of daily farm life for a bit and chat with people.
“I leave there feeling like a million dollars,” Peters said, during a roundtable discussion on mental healthcare for farmers at Penn State-Beaver led by state Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., R-47, New Sewickley Township, a farmer and chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.
The roundtable was part of Gov. Tom Wolf’s Reach Out PA: Your Mental Health Matters initiative.
Giving farmers, many of whom live insular lives on their land with family, a chance to simply talk to other people would be a good “early step” to helping those struggling with the unique issues faced in the agriculture business, Peters said.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding was part of the discussion that featured several farmers and mental healthcare providers, as well as state Reps. Jim Marshall, R-14, Big Beaver, and Rob Matzie, D-16, Ambridge, and Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning.
“We only get to a better place on mental health by talking about it,” Redding said.
What officials heard were suggestions to make counseling more accessible to farmers, remove the stigma around mental healthcare and address insurance and cost issues.
Vogel said farmers face constant pressure from market prices to the weather all while frequently trying to keep a family legacy from going under.
“You’re the fourth or fifth generation. It falls on your shoulders,” said Vogel, whose farm has been in his family since 1873. “You don’t want to be the one that the farm goes out of business because of you.”
That constant stress and financial turmoil, such as the drop in grain prices caused by President Donald Trump’s tariff war with China, has resulted in increased bankruptcies and suicides among farmers, Forbes.com reported in August.
According to Forbes, the number of farm bankruptcies in the Mid-Atlantic region, stretching from Virginia to New York and including Pennsylvania, rose 15 percent between July 2018 and June 2019, while the National Farmers Union said suicides were increasing among farmers.
Forbes cited a Farm Bureau and Morning Consult survey that found 91 percent of farmers and farm workers thought financial issues were impacting the farmers’ mental health.
Vogel said that Farm Credit, a lending agency, is now having loan officers take classes to help them recognize mental health red flags when farmers come to appointments. And, he said, the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine is requiring students to take classes in mental health because they frequently visit farms and might be able to spot the signs of possible problems.
“Farmers are always tough guys. ‘We’ll handle it ourselves. We’ll do it. I don’t need anyone to tell me how to take care of myself,’” Vogel said. “There’s help out here for you. We’re trying to get the conversation started.”
Vogel said that he would be meeting with state agencies in the spring to discuss additional steps that could be taken to tackle the issue.
But, Peters has already started an online effort she calls #SecretsofAg where other farmers can anonymously post concerns or problems and receive advice.
Frank Hartley, a Lycoming County dairy farmer, said the first hurdle to overcome is the lack of awareness of the industry itself. “People in the mental health industry don’t quite understand agriculture,” he said, explaining that a truck driver could be told to switch careers, but a farmer cannot do that.
“It’s more than just your job, it’s your life,” Hartley said. “It’s your lifestyle. You may have multiple generations behind you.”
