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Counselor says needed hotline funding rejected
Mental health services included in the 2008 Farm Bill have received NO funding according to a farm psychologist. Dr. Michael Rosmann – executive director of AgriWellness – tells Brownfield their request for $5-Million to begin implementing the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network did not pass out of the Senate committee, and their subsequent request for $2-Million was unanswered. “We think it’s really a shame that such a small request for something so important as preventing a suicide was not funded,” says Rosmann.Rosmann is involved with Sowing the Seeds of Hope mental health hotline in seven states – Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Kansas. He says the Farm Bill program would have helped expand hotline services nationwide. Further, Rosmann says, “Without funding for the Farm & Ranch Stress Assistance Network, intact programs like Sowing the Seeds of Hope will have insufficient funding to meet all of the challenges posed by the high stress level of people engaged in agriculture.”
Rosman says calls to Sowing the Seeds of Hope have increased as stress on dairy farmers and other producers increases. Two dairy farmer suicides have been reported recently in his seven-state area. There have also been reports of dairy farmer suicides in California, Colorado, Maine and elsewhere.
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