Farm belt tries to head off another surge in suicides

NEW YORK — 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.

"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 percent of rural residents live in areas that suffer from a mental health professional shortage," Perdue said.