By K.S. Brooks / Silverado Express Newspaper
This is a difficult topic. But if writing and talking about it can save one life, then it’s worth it. Facts are facts: Farmers in the United States die by suicide 1.5 times more often than the national average, according to a study by the CDC (Center for Disease Control). This number may be low, in fact, because it is believed that some of the deaths are staged to look like equipment accidents, and not all self-employed farmers were included in the survey.
I don’t know about you, but to think the people who work the land to keep us fed are feeling the pressures of life so severely that they can no longer take it haunts me and brings tears to my eyes.
The U.S. is not alone with what some are referring to as an epidemic; in India, more than 10 thousand farmers took their own lives during both 2018 and 2019, as reported by multiple sources. According to the Guardian, “an Australian farmer dies by suicide every four days; in the UK, one farmer a week takes his or her own life; in France, one farmer dies by suicide every two days; in India, more than 270,000 farmers have died by suicide since 1995.”
Here in Stevens County, from 2015 to 2020, there were a total of 66 suicides according to Coroner Lorrie Sampson. Last year, there were 15. Those are not broken down by occupation, however, farming accidents…
