Farmers in America are killing themselves in staggering numbers

Dear ATS readers, Writers,

Very sad to hear it is happening in big numbers in the USA..

Farmers, topping themselves off... checking out..

It has happened in a pretty high number statistically where I live in Australia.

One guy got so upset he drank a bottle of some kind of poison in front of the "energy company" that was giving him grief over his farmland.

It took several days, and he died a horrible prolonged death..

In India, I have heard the last few years, farmers been doing the same thing...in huge numbers.

"Think about trying to live today on the income you had 15 years ago." That's how agriculture expert Chris Hurt describes the plight facing U.S. farmers today.

The unequal economy that's emerged over the past decade, combined with patchy access to health care in rural areas, have had a severe impact on the people growing America's food. Recent data shows just how much. Farmers are dying by suicide at a higher rate than any other occupational group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The suicide rate in the field of farming, fishing and forestry is 84.5 per 100,000 people -- more than five times that of the population as a whole. That's even as the nation overall has seen an increase in suicide rates over the last 30 years.

Farmers in America are killing themselves in staggering numbers

If we don't take care for our farmers.... you/we might all just bloody starve to death too.
I have a terrible "black thumb" when it comes to gardening..ha!

Veggies were a bust..but got heaps of mandarins, passionfruit, and cherry tomatoes,

Farming is a thankless , in most cases, career field to choose.. and not known historically for big money being made.

You usually have to make a contract or something with a big name outfit like Purina, etc, to make a decent go at farming in some areas.

In Australia... everyone is watching for another El Nino to show up, looking more likely now..and typically that means another terrible drought for Oz..One of thousands, it is what it is in Oz. A land of extremes.

But it doesn't make it any easier for the farmers and ranchers.

Maybe it is time for another "Farm Aid" tour.

Pravdaseeker

Australia also 🙁

It does seem at some point farming has taken a backseat to being a respected profession. When I first began day trading crops were where the money was at. As a kid picking cotton, tobacco, peanuts and corn was where the money was at. In my home country rice is still so important but its declared a position for drop outs and losers to farm.

The India farmers thing I started hearing about during the end of the previous decade (The 00's), and the conventional allegation was it was all about the Monsanto "Terminator" seeds. I think I saw a rebuttal to that assertion, must have been real late one night long ago I cant recall the argument.

a reply to: pravdaseeker

I guess it's back to hunting and gathering!

Sad that one of the most fundamental parts of a producing society is the one most taken for granted eh?

Kinda funny but, every now and then I get the urge to go 'green acres.'

Dear ATS Readers, Writers,

a reply to: scubagravy
Oi scubagravy...(Bloody Maroons blew it, bummer)

So you have read some of the sad Oz farmer stories too eh mate? Out in the Darling Downs about 4 or 5 have ended it
the last few years. Very sad to hear when it happens.

It is dry now already; and the roos are hanging out on the shoulders of the roads where the green grass still exists in some spots..

A lot of road kill going on out where I work. Too bad God didn't make roo eyes glow in the dark like most other animals...in your headlights.. at least you could see them on the road well ahead of time.

The middlemen from in between the farmer and our dinner tables are who make all the money in the food industry. I reckon more really should go back to the farmers, or at least get them some government subsidies going for them.

The super big seed companies were to blame for a lot of the sadness in India too I remember reading about..

Some areas of the USA are in a very long prolonged drought.

Some are crying climate change...

But they all need to be reminded, long terrible droughts are a thing in the USA, especially in the Southwest region. The southwest was about due for a long drawn out drought, like the kind that drove away the Anasazi Indians back around 1100A.D.

Pravdaseeker

a reply to: pravdaseeker

When you have worked your whole life doing one thing and you end up broke in your late 40s and 50s , starting over is a very scary thought.

Suicide is just easier.

Farming is not an easy row to hoe.


Damn, that sounds mean. It's not meant to be so.

In America, the Estate Tax rules were relaxed, as part of the 2017 Tax Overhaul. Less chance that 40% of the Farm goes to Uncle Sam upon the farmer's death. Less inhibition for moving on to the next life, if this one becomes unbearable.

a reply to: carewemust

Do you happen to know what percentage of family farms were/are subject to inheritance taxes?

Dear ATS Readers, Writers,

a reply to: Saiker

Hey there Saiker... yes, very sad indeed..

Another trend that the original article doesn't touch on, but is still a bad thing for farming..

That is, if a farm is even very successful, a lot of farms after being handed down to the kids, get sold off to build estates on... the best farmland gets paved, and houses built on it.

You would know,from your post, that farming is hard work too. Up real early some times..

Praying fo rain, but not too much rain.. and pray for no hail in the needed rain...to ruin crops..

A lot of the modern kids of farmers just sell out the farm, and move to Hawaii...buy a condo on the beach..

Pravdaseeker

Dear ATS Readers, Writers,

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Thanks Narco... that brought a good chuckle from me..

That show was SO STUPID, yet I loved to watch it...

It was a classic, and the smartest one on the show was Arnold, the pig..Ha!

Pravdaseeker

a reply to: pravdaseeker

A lot of the modern kids of farmers just sell out the farm, and move to Hawaii...buy a condo on the beach..

And stay there for a couple of months a year then offering it as a vacation rental for $6,000 a month for the rest of the year and letting the neighbors deal with the renters.

I know whereof I speak.

Dear ATS Readers, Writers,

a reply to: notsure1

notsure1, Was that ever the truth! Very good point made there..

I can relate, I started a new life in Australia at 56... getting a job, etc...

It was very stressful for a while. But it all has worked out wonderfully for me.

All it takes is a crop failure, and the farmer is screwed..in a lot of cases.

Pravdaseeker

Dear ATS Readers, Writers,

a reply to: Phage

Greetings again Phage.. Ah yes....it happens here in Oz too.

Around the Gold Coast, and Hope Island the true owners say the same thing.

Some wild a** loud parties sometimes when the bad renters come for a week or so...grrrr.

Not to mention bad things happening too, like people falling off balconies and breaking legs, necks, etc.

There is becoming some political "pushback" on that type of property investing...in Oz anyway.

Pravdaseeker

Totally agree with you buddy, im hating on the banks too, and some of the mining companies, Woolworths too, under cutting is a thing here hey, and the fact people from overseas can by huge clumps of land here. Farmers take their lives because they are losing their identity, to be honest, Australia is losing itself too mate.



a reply to: pravdaseeker

a reply to: scubagravy

Woolworths too,

You still have Woolworths?

And Kangaroos?

Dear ATS Readers, Writers,

a reply to: scubagravy

Yep, seems to be happening in a lot of places.

Yes, the kids want to move to the big smoke...forget running a farm...

I see the farmers in the field at night too, save on running the air con in the tractors I reckon?

Any decent bigger tractor for a farm is very pricey. Frankly, I was shocked when I looked into it..

Anything over 100 HP and 4x4 will break my bank..Ha! That is before all the extras you need.

It is so sad to see it happening. I still see younger kids out west who will do the farming, ARE doing the farming...
But the numbers still slowly dwindle.

Pravdaseeker

The gov is a huge problem, and honestly companies like Monsanto and others that make it much harder for farmers to run their operations, effectively forcing them into practices (because of ties with the gov) that make it fiscally almost impossible to keep their farms going.

Ad the other unreasonable regulations , along with rising prices in fuel, feed and just about everything else a farm needs to run, and you have a recipe for disaster.

I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but look at where these issues are more prevalent, youll find companies like Monsanto.

Dear ATS Readers, Writers,

a reply to: SailorJerry

Greetings Sailor Jerry; yes, The "M" word has been implicated in law suits that ruined farmers when a crop that was planted using Monsanto GM seed.. Well, it cross pollinated an adjacent farms, and those farmers got sued for the Patented GM gene that showed up in their crops for sale. Ruined most of them.

Even in some the possible cases that Monsanto would lose the law suit they started; they still managed to financially ruin the farmer through lawyer/solicitor fees, etc.

Pravdaseeker