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Increased farmer mental health efforts working
Some mental health advocates are concerned progress made by USDA’s Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network could be abandoned in the next farm bill.
Dr. Florence Becot with Penn State University’s Agricultural Safety and Health Program tells Brownfield the network was created by the 2018 Farm Bill and needs to be reauthorized to continue.
“What I’ve heard from people who’ve been involved in working on these services is there’s a lot of anxiety around what happens if that doesn’t get funded again?” she shares. “And what about all the work that has been done? Does it go away? Because we know that in agriculture, stress is not episodic, it’s chronic.”
Becot is researching how mental health resources for farmers have changed across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.
“When we looked at how many organizations were providing resources in 2019 versus in 2022, we found that the number has more than quadrupled and the number of actual programs and resources has more than tripled,” she says.
She says as awareness and access have improved, people have become more open about their struggles.
“Stigma is not as strong as it used to be,” she says. “Where we hearing that people seem to be more open to having conversations around mental health. Anecdotally, it seems like there are more conversations about it, and people are more open to maybe reaching out for help.”
Senator Ag Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow’s farm bill framework increases appropriations for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network. The Republican outline in the House does not include language for the program.
AUDIO: Dr. Florence Becot, Penn State University
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