Michigan farmer suicide help may be endangered by state funding snub

Workload and financial uncertainty contribute to a high suicide rate among Michigan farmers
A program at MSU Extension offers education and counseling for agriculture workers
State funding for the program is uncertain as budget negotiations continue

Counseling and suicide prevention efforts for Michigan farmers would shrink by more than half next year if proposed state budgets are adopted.

Farmers have one of the highest rates of suicide in Michigan and the nation. The state has $112,000 to fight the crisis for four years, but that money isn’t in the budget proposals of the House, Senate or Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Lawmakers face an Oct. 1 deadline to approve a budget.

Without state money, the program would lose 56% of its total funding, hobbling services that “saves lives,” said Remington Rice, who leads the managing farm stress program for the Michigan State University Extension.

“I’ve had farmers tell me that our counseling program saved their farm and likely saved their life,” Rice told Bridge Michigan. “When do we tell farmers that we can’t support counseling anymore?”

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There are 44,000 farms in Michigan with about 150,000 workers. Family farm owners often work seven days a week and face economic uncertainty not faced by those receiving a regular paycheck. Those factors can lead to high levels of stress, while access to mental health services is limited in most rural areas of the state.

According to the National Rural Health Association, farmers are more than 3.5 times as likely to die by suicide as the general public.

Michigan data indicates agriculture, forestry and fishing employees had the highest suicide rate among men in 2022, the latest year for which data is available. The 14 suicides that year in those fields account for a rate of 107.6 per 100,000 workers, more than twice that of all occupations.

“Coming from a family of farmers, I know the pressures that come with a career in agriculture,” Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Tim Boring said in a statement. “Unpredictable weather, rapid fluctuations in global markets, and labor shortages can produce uncertainty and extreme stress in the agriculture community.”

Since 2020, MSU Extension has offered help to stressed farmers through its Legacy of the Land program, which includes business management training and teletherapy.

Farmer stress and suicide help

Farm Aid’s Farmer Hotline: 1-800-FARM-AID (327-6243)

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988
Michigan 211 Hotline: Dial 211
Farm stress teletherapy: Contact the service here.

Legacy of the Land farm support services: Contact the services here.

The program has paid for 550 therapy visits and reached over 10,000 people across Michigan through educational presentations and workshops.

“For farmers, mental health is just as essential as crop health or market access,” said Quentin Tyler, director of MSU Extension. “When Michigan producers face mental health challenges, the impact ripples through families, communities and our entire food system.”

Without state support, the program would have $90,000 in federal funding for its services. That would likely result in a rationing of counseling services, Rice said.

“Since 2020, we’ve never needed to turn away a Michigan farmer seeking counseling services,” Rice said. Without state funds, “we will pay for services on a first come first serve basis. We will likely need to limit our services at some point without state support.”

If money runs out, the program would still refer farmers to counseling services, but they would need to pay for it themselves, Rice said.

Legacy of the Land would also cut back educational materials, social media marketing and staff time to work on the project.

Sen. Roger Victory, R-Georgetown Township, who has been a longtime advocate for the farm stress management program, said there is “a lot of uncertainty in the budget process and negotiations are ongoing.

“The Farm Stress Management program is important for our agricultural community, and I hope to see funding to support the initiative included so we can address the challenges facing our farmers,” Victory said.

“I know the grants were slated as one-time grants, so the legislative wording did not include future renewal,” Rice said. “Of course, we had hoped the state would continue seeing this as a priority.”