Ag Policy Blog

Farmers in parts of the Midwest now face record flooding that likely will make it impossible to get a crop in this year while livestock producers deal with death loss and feed challenges.

They blend right in with farmers and livestock producers who were hit by Hurricanes Florence and Michael last fall.

All of this dovetails into problems DTN highlighted last week regarding farmers already on the financial margins. https://www.dtnpf.com/…

So mental stress right now is high.

National Farmers Union on Monday, leading a coalition of other farm and rural groups, called on Congress to fully fund the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) in fiscal year 2020.

For FY 2019, the program is basically expected to operate as a pilot as $2 million as allocated to create a framework for the full program.

FRSAN is expected to provide grants to extension services, state departments of agriculture, nonprofit organizations and other entities to provide stress assistance programs to farmers, ranchers, farmworkers, and other agriculture-related occupations. Eligible programs include farm helplines and websites, training programs and workshops, outreach services, and home delivery of assistance.

“As you know, farming is a high-stress occupation,” said the groups in a letter to leadership of the Senate and House agriculture appropriations subcommittees. “Financial risk, volatile markets, unpredictable weather, and heavy workloads can all place a significant strain on farmers’, ranchers’ and farmworkers’ mental and emotional well-being. This is exacerbated by the fact that 60 percent of rural residents live in areas that suffer from mental health professional shortages.”

The groups noted the current prolonged farm economy downturn is causing even greater stress for farmers and ranchers. “Net farm income in 2018 was nearly 50 percent less than it was in 2013,” they said. “While current projections suggest slight improvements in 2019, a significant rebound could be years away.”

Congress provided $2 million in the fiscal year 2019 appropriations bill for a pilot of the program. The groups hope the pilot program will create an on-ramp to full program implementation.

“As the Subcommittee develops the FY 2020 agriculture appropriations bill, we urge you to fully fund the FRSAN at $10 million,” said the groups. “This funding will be critically important in meeting the needs of farmers and ranchers as they endure increasing financial and mental stress.”

The full letter can be found at https://nfu.org/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN

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