By Russell Lackey and Trisha Wheelock for Faith & Leadership via The Daily Yonder.
Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Iowa News Service reporting for The Daily Yonder-Public News Service Collaboration

In the 1960s sitcom "Green Acres," wealthy New Yorkers leave the city for rural life. As the show's twangy theme song says, "Farm living is the life for me." It's a funny, lighthearted show - but in reality, many farmers' lives are far from idyllic.

In January 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report on suicide rates by occupation. Farmers landed in the top five. Along with workers in construction, mining, transportation, and services such as auto repair, workers in agriculture die by suicide at disproportionally high rates. The complexity of farming, along with isolation, shame over economic distress, and a lack of mental health resources is fueling this epidemic.

Four years ago, we launched The Moses Project, a program to equip rural pastors with resources for congregational leadership, connect them to peers and support them with mentors. Our hope was to inspire innovative thinking among those serving in rural settings. The effort is funded by a Thriving in Ministry grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

The name for the project came from Deuteronomy 34:7: "Moses was 120 years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated" (NRSV). The idea is that where there is vision, there is passion. We hoped to inspire vision among pastors. We didn't know that this work would also help improve mental health among farmers.

One of the program's exemplars is the Rev. Grant Woodley, a fourth-generation farmer and a Lutheran pastor. Woodley's bivocational work places him in a unique position to inform and inspire his colleagues. Speaking to a group of pastors, Woodley said, "Farmers face tremendous pressure, as global dynamics, the weather, economic markets - both domestic and global - and politics all factor into the business of farming."

That pressure can kill. We have pastors who've buried high school students and farmers in their 20s and 30s who feel overwhelmed at not being able to continue the family legacy. These deaths take a heavy toll on the local community - including the pastors themselves.

Yet farmers can serve as positive models, Woodley said. To survive, farmers need to be flexible in their business; they also need to be empathetic to care for themselves and loved ones in their community.

Woodley then challenged his colleagues to be pastors who "think like farmers": to be flexible and empathetic with the long game in mind. In other words, to practice traditioned innovation.

This challenge resonated for the Rev. Stephen Zeller, a project participant, who serves a rural congregation at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Cole Camp, Missouri. Zeller began thinking about the mental health of farmers in his church and community. He realized that no one talked about mental health. With empathy for the community, Zeller and his church decided to act.

The church hosted a concert at a family farm featuring the Peterson Farm Brothers band. Funded by a grant, it was touted as a "We love our farmers" event and included family activities and food. Zeller also invited participation from the local University of Missouri Extension Office.

The outdoor event was attended by 150-200 people and included eight representatives from the extension office - and lots of resources on suicide awareness for rural communities. Some farmers quietly grabbed pamphlets and avoided making eye contact. Others connected with church members, extension representatives and others.

The success of the concert led to further collaboration. Zeller's church partnered with a clinic for farmers. This free event included students completing a rural-track internship through the University of Missouri School of Medicine, who provided mental health screenings, a presentation on mental health and suicide awareness, and a free lunch.

By thinking like a farmer, Zeller identified needs in the community and sought collaboration partners who were already active in mental health support for rural communities. Such work not only helps the congregation flourish; it also brings an awareness that can save lives.

One thing is clear: Pastors and church leaders stand in a crucial space within rural America. Their buildings are often the nicest ones in town, and everyone has passed through those spaces for weddings, funerals, baptisms and other life events. When pastors and churches take the time to be flexible and creative, many blessings arise.

Zeller explains: "Being able to notice what we were doing well, what didn't need to be done, and what the needs around us were at that time allowed us to create new partnerships and offer God's love where it was really needed."

The church has an important role to play in facilitating conversations about suicide, mental health and other needs faced by rural communities. Unlike Moses, who watched a generation of his community die in the wilderness, we as rural pastors can work to help a generation of farmers live.

If we commit to thinking like farmers, with empathy and creativity, lives can be changed. And maybe over time, we might help more people in our communities say, "Farm living is the life for me."

Russell Lackey and Trisha Wheelock wrote this article for Faith & Leadership via The Daily Yonder.


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North Dakota's farming landscape is seeing policy shifts dealing with corporate ownership of agricultural interests. Now, there's fresh debate at the federal level.

Earlier this year, the Legislature loosened restrictions under the state's longstanding anti-corporate-farming law. The changes, which followed lengthy debate, focus on livestock operations.

In Congress, the National Family Farm Coalition is among the groups calling for passage of the Farmland for Farmers Act, which would restrict the amount of farmland large corporations can own.

Ben Vig, who farms small grains in east-central North Dakota, said he's happy to see the federal proposal, noting the broader corporate influence within agriculture these days.

"The idea that we have checks and balances when we purchase our food -- well, sometimes, the corporations own everything and we're subjected to what they put as a price," Vig observed.

He's referring to corporate dominance in such areas as meat processing. And foreign ownership of U.S. ag property also has emerged as a concern; the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports foreign investors hold about 40 million acres of American farmland.

The North Dakota Farmers Union has said it doesn't think the federal bill would overlap with the state-level changes, but it does support the Congressional efforts.

Groups representing large ag firms have criticized recent federal attempts to establish market fairness, warning they would harm consumers. But Vig said giving the little guy more "wiggle room" to operate keeps farming communities thriving.

"And we still have people taking care of the land or taking care of small-town infrastructure," Vig pointed out. "Whether we're serving on a township board, or serving on a church board and a school board, we still know who the neighbors are."

Corporate influence within agriculture also has led to concerns about the impact on land prices.

The Farmland for Farmers Act was introduced by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey. And separate bipartisan efforts are focused on foreign investors.

At the state level, North Dakota got attention for the livestock-related ownership changes, but lawmakers also advanced legislation to restrict foreign governments from acquiring farmland.

If you live in a flood prone community, soil health from nearby farmland may have something to do with it. Ag voices in Wisconsin say government-funded conservation programs are effective in mitigating risks and disaster expenses.

Congress will soon renew debate over long-term Farm Bill funding, including incentives for producers to adopt practices like no-till farming, which allow the soil to hold more water after heavy rain.

Juli Obudzinski, sustainable agriculture policy consultant for the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, said it is not only an issue for farmers and policymakers. She emphasized taxpayer dollars come into play when programs are underfunded.

"Some of the costs that they pay because of the lack of investment in soil health practices, especially municipalities, rural communities, even state budgets when they're looking at costs to repair flooding damages," Obudzinski outlined.

Her research showed between 2009 and 2019, Wisconsin suffered nearly $36 million in flood damage. On the other side, she acknowledged soil health investment and improved water quality pay off for communities, such as boosting home values along watersheds. The discussions also follow recent conservation funding boosts from the Inflation Reduction Act, with advocates noting they are poised to help more rural areas.

Ron Schoepp, a farmer from south-central Wisconsin, is among those who have tapped into Inflation Reduction Act incentives this year through the federal Conservation Stewardship Program. He is adding to the soil health practices he has carried out over the years, providing benefits reaching beyond his property.

"We farm right on Lake Wisconsin and so there's less runoff," Schoepp explained. "That definitely helps neighbors by keeping a cleaner Lake Wisconsin."

He also contended making incentives more accessible could place less stress on disaster aid programs for farmers. Congress has until next fall to adopt a new Farm Bill after extending the recent version for another year. While many programs have bipartisan support, it is unclear how funding disagreements and the 2024 election will influence reauthorization.

Women, LGBTQ, and minority farmers in Ohio face compounding stressors, according to a study from Ohio State University.

Researchers surveyed and interviewed a group of nontraditional, mostly first-generation organic farmers. Results showed 58% of survey respondents reported mild to severe symptoms of anxiety or depression.

Fiona Doherty, doctoral candidate in the College of Social Work at Ohio State University and the study's lead author, said the survey was done in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She said many farmers expressed disappointment at the financial reality of farming, including not making ends meet and having to pick up a second or even third job.

"Part of what inspired us to do this particular research study was really acknowledging the generations, the decades of structural discrimination in the U.S. agricultural industry," Doherty explained. "That's led to unequal access to land, unequal access to farm resources."

Some study participants also identified climate change and unpredictable weather as sources of stress.

Doherty pointed out the research is a step toward creating structural support such as policies to improve equity, accessibility, and representation for beginning, women, racial and ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ farmers, especially as traditional farmers age out of the field.

"Really thinking about those cumulative impacts and what that does to someone's well-being, to their success as a farmer, as a beginning farmer," Doherty outlined. "That's one main take-away, is just thinking about those cumulative stressors."

According to census data, in 2017, the U.S. had around 321,000 farmers age 35 or younger, accounting for just 9% of the country's roughly 3 million producers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said as legacy producers retire, the nation will need a new generation of farmers to grow food and feed.