Farmer's Death Spurs struggles with depression and suicide

LOGANVILLE, Wis. — Brenda Statz remembers the rain the day they lost Leon, her husband of 34 years. The deluge had been falling for weeks, flooding their fields, delaying the harvest, pounding the roof of the barn where Mr. Statz completed his morning chores, then ended his life.
It was October 8, 2018, a Monday. Mr. Statz, a father of three and grandfather of one, was 57. A note in the pocket of his work pants described how the depression robbed him of the hope and pride he had of running a third-generation dairy farm.

Most of the families Ms. Statz knew suffered such losses in isolation, silenced by the stigma surrounding mental illness. “But I had to talk about it,” Ms. Statz said. Shortly after her husband's death, she and several friends founded the Farmer Angel Network, connecting struggling farmers and their families with help and each other.
The suicide rate among farmers is three and a half times higher than among the general population, according to the National Rural Health Association. Suicide rates in rural communities have increased by 48% between 2000 and 2018, compared to 34% in urban areas.
"Our producers must constantly do more with less , innovate and improve, raise a family, preserve a legacy - and let's not forget to feed and clothe the world while we're at it," Zach Ducheneaux, the administrator of the Farm Service Agency, the federal government's main channel for financial support for agriculture, wrote last summer.
The average farmer in America is male and around 57 years old, as was Mr. Statz, although more women and young people have entered agriculture in the past decade. Men in general are more likely to die by suicide, and full-time farmers face intense financial pressure as their livelihoods are affected by global forces beyond their control, such as trade wars and livestock pandemics. .
Raised to value stoicism and self-determination, they often avoid seeking mental health treatment out of shame and the misconception that depression is only not a disease but a state of mind fixable by attitude, faith or hard work.

ImageLeon Statz was 57 when he died. Credit... Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times
ImageM. Statz was a father of three, with one grandchild.Credit... Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times
Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat of Wisconsin, asks 10 million in the 2023 Farm Bill – the same level allowed in the 2018 Farm Bill – for an Agriculture Department Stress Support Network that helps fund behavioral health services for rural Americans. Mrs. B.

Health Apr 19, 2023 0 60 Add to Reading List

Farmer's Death Spurs struggles with depression and suicide

LOGANVILLE, Wis. — Brenda Statz remembers the rain the day they lost Leon, her husband of 34 years. The deluge had been falling for weeks, flooding their fields, delaying the harvest, pounding the roof of the barn where Mr. Statz completed his morning chores, then ended his life.

It was October 8, 2018, a Monday. Mr. Statz, a father of three and grandfather of one, was 57. A note in the pocket of his work pants described how the depression robbed him of the hope and pride he had of running a third-generation dairy farm.

Most of the families Ms. Statz knew suffered such losses in isolation, silenced by the stigma surrounding mental illness. “But I had to talk about it,” Ms. Statz said. Shortly after her husband's death, she and several friends founded the Farmer Angel Network, connecting struggling farmers and their families with help and each other.

The suicide rate among farmers is three and a half times higher than among the general population, according to the National Rural Health Association. Suicide rates in rural communities have increased by 48% between 2000 and 2018, compared to 34% in urban areas.

"Our producers must constantly do more with less , innovate and improve, raise a family, preserve a legacy - and let's not forget to feed and clothe the world while we're at it," Zach Ducheneaux, the administrator of the Farm Service Agency, the federal government's main channel for financial support for agriculture, wrote last summer.

The average farmer in America is male and around 57 years old, as was Mr. Statz, although more women and young people have entered agriculture in the past decade. Men in general are more likely to die by suicide, and full-time farmers face intense financial pressure as their livelihoods are affected by global forces beyond their control, such as trade wars and livestock pandemics. .

Raised to value stoicism and self-determination, they often avoid seeking mental health treatment out of shame and the misconception that depression is only not a disease but a state of mind fixable by attitude, faith or hard work.

ImageLeon Statz was 57 when he died. Credit... Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times

ImageM. Statz was a father of three, with one grandchild.Credit... Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times

Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat of Wisconsin, asks 10 million in the 2023 Farm Bill – the same level allowed in the 2018 Farm Bill – for an Agriculture Department Stress Support Network that helps fund behavioral health services for rural Americans. Mrs. B.