By ANN HINCH
Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Discussing mental health isn’t easy; however, staying mentally healthy is just as important as staying physically healthy. Mental health is also intricately tied to physical health. September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, which made this a perfect time for the first Rural Mental Health Symposium in Indiana. A major factor behind Meggie Foster’s idea for the event was the struggle her husband, Dallas, and she went through in trying to keep their own farm business afloat. “To be honest, God put this idea in my heart,” Foster, a former Farm World editor who now works at CountryMark, explained while opening the symposium Sept. 10. Two years ago, these two former farm kids faced financial difficulty and finally decided to sell their 600 sows and equipment “and watched our dreams fade into the horizon” after more than a decade of the business. “It was an incredible journey,” Dallas said, “but it was a journey filled with issues and health and labor … and there were stresses.” The calls they received from other farmers after they announced the farm’s closing, asking advice on their own situations, spurred his wife’s idea for this event. So, she and five fellow members of her 2018 AgrIInstitute Indiana Agricultural Leadership Program chose to organize this seven-hour symposium, titled “Healing the Heartland,” as their program project. The others are Jackie Barber of Elanco Animal Health, Jeff Cummins of Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Sam Schwoeppe of Schwoeppe Dairy and Feeding America, Kyle Shipman with Indiana State Board of Animal Health, and Sarah Wagler of Nutrient Management. The Fosters struggled with losing their identity as farmers – not at all surprising, according to Dr. Michael Rosmann, an Iowa psychologist and farmer who spoke at the event. Farmers’ “agrarian imperative” – or the urge to acquire sufficient land and resources to produce enough food and other goods to help humans thrive – is strong. Multiple stressors It’s a term readers may recognize from Rosmann’s repeated references in his longtime “Farm and Ranch Life” column in this paper. He arrived at this scientific theory in part by researching old studies on animals and the ways in which they are territorial. For humans, the agrarian imperative isn’t just an urge – it was behind the driving force of civilization. Perhaps traveling hunter-gatherers thousands of years ago noticed seeds they dropped into crevices resulted in straggling crops that would be there when they were passing through again, he said, and came up with the idea for planting intentionally. The act of producing food lent stability to clans, then communities and more occupations, then cities. The agrarian imperative is tied with farmers’ mental well-being, and when something threatens the former, it can hurt the latter. Financial threats are among the biggest stressors for ag producers – and when threatened, they can react potently and with alarm. “We can mostly handle two stressors at once,” Rosmann explained, referring to major factors, “but when we get to three, we sometimes reach our breaking point.” Right now, there are decidedly more than two stressors in agriculture. The United States is in its fifth year of a major ag economic recession: there is uncertainty about how regulations impacting farms will play out (or not), given shifting political tides; fluctuating trade agreement terms and tariffs are affecting ag sales; this year’s weather has thrown a wrench into planting and yields; consumer preferences continue to shift; and of course, any personal problems a farmer is having can pile on top of any combination of these. Rosmann said current economic uncertainties are “killing us – sometimes literally.” Suicides in ag occupations are about 60 percent higher than among the general population. “A great many people now feel that financial issues remain at the top of their list of stressors, with 91 percent saying that financial issues or fear of losing their land impacts their mental health,” he explained. Rosmann prefers the term “behavioral health” instead of “mental health” because behavior encompasses wider factors. “(The term) is broader; it includes substance abuse as part of our behaviors, it includes mental health issues, but more importantly, the term ‘behavior’ is more acceptable and less mysterious,” he explained. For instance, “oh, he’s mental” is a term that can be used in derogatory fashion, he said, whereas, “he’s behavioral” isn’t going to be something people use as a pejorative. Not alone in struggling Behavioral or mental, the three farmers who told their stories of loss and coping want to help improve the outlook for others who are struggling. Dallas Foster talked at length about his upbringing and education that focused on farming fundamentals. In 2006 he collaborated with an employer and neighbor and started farming family ground, growing to 600 sows and 1,300 acres by 2016. Shortly after that, he became aware of financial problems he said he hadn’t known about because of poor communication from a lender. While he and Meggie were by all appearances thriving farmers, winning awards and holding assets, he felt he was living “two lives” – one of this success, and one where he was struggling to keep the farm open and employees paid. “I was stressed, I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping,” he told the roughly 100 people gathered, adding in one summer he rapidly dropped 40 pounds, after having packed on extra weight. Finally, this past winter, “in three weeks I liquidated 13 years of hard work.” Foster resisted seeking help for a long while because he didn’t want to be thought of as “a problem,” which meant he admitted also passing up opportunities that might have helped him in time. As for mental aid, he was able to talk with a few trusted people, and his sister eventually convinced him to see a therapist, which he initially disliked but later praised. He went from worrying someone might recognize his truck parked outside the therapist’s office, to being willing to “park on Main Street in Greenfield” once he realized how much the talking helped. He will not tell any farmer in dire straits what they should do; his decision to get out of business and seek a job in construction at Bane-Welker Equipment was predicated on him making a list of what was important to him in life. He still gets to work in ag some days, and he still lives on farmland he can show his daughters – and perhaps someday they will farm again. Another farmer who talked about his financial woes was Doug Leman, Indiana Dairy Producers executive director. He left his family dairy and grain operation in 2001 to build a new dairy with his wife, Margaret, and sons in Francesville. With hard work, they grew Sunny Ridge Dairy into an 800-head operation, despite starting when milk prices dropped and heifer prices went up. “That didn’t bother me,” he said, because he was living his dream. In 2007-08 they decided to expand further – even with some sense of the economic recession of 2009 looming. “Life was getting hard. My wife would start paying bills and I would stand over her shoulder and be like ‘aren’t you done yet?’” he recalled, adding it reached a point where it was costing $3,000 a day just to operate the dairy. Their banker started asking questions about repayment, and refused to expand their line of credit. “You can’t describe the feeling of aloneness,” Leman explained. “I would look around and it would look like everybody was doing good, except for me. “You don’t sleep; a good night was three hours a night if I was lucky, and that was with two Tylenol PM. You do figures in your head at all times … you’d be surprised what you can figure out when you’re sleeping.” Even as a man of faith and frequent conversations with God, he came to understand how a person can think suicide is a viable option. At one point he saw potential imminent death from his high blood pressure as a “saving grace” for his family, since life insurance would cover their debts. “It made a different person out of me,” Leman said of this struggle and the decision to sell the farm in 2011, rendering him more compassionate toward people’s problems. Even as he drove away in tears the night he handed the farm to its new owner, he received a text from one of his sons making him feel better about his decision, which read simply: “Thanks, Dad.” Selling the dairy was difficult, but the right decision for his family. His advice to other struggling farmers is not to wait too long to decide if they want to sell, declare bankruptcy, or seek some other divestment option. “You can get out whole if you’re willing to act early enough,” he said. Born and raised in Netherlands, Tony Goldstein and his wife, Yvonne, moved their children to the United States in 2003 to pursue growth opportunity in dairy. In 2005 they began milking their own cows and growing the family business, Union Go Dairy in Winchester. They were doing well, he said, until the recession of 2009. Having been in-country for only a few years, he had no relatives and few contacts in Indiana who could help. He said the communication from his bank was awful before he received a notice of repossession, and made the process tougher – an experience that still imbues him with a “hate-love relationship” with bankers. The Goldsteins hired an attorney and went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, during which he said he fought hard for the dairy while at the same time trying not to remain angry. “You cannot show your anger to them” he said of his employees, whose families he felt responsible for helping them be able to support. At the time, he had nobody but Yvonne to talk with about his feelings as they struggled through the 20 months of bankruptcy. They came out the other side, developed a new marketing plan in 2013, and, well – “We’re still doing what we’re doing,” he said of the dairy, which is now home to its third, young generation. “We still love what we’re doing, we’re making a little bit of money. “That’s my story; but it’s not the end of my story.” Leman said even though he was in trouble as his farm was failing, he tried to make sure his suppliers and workers stayed paid and that he kept in communication with them on delays. He encourages other farmers to be open in their business discussions so there are no surprises and people will trust them. “Communication solves so many problems,” he noted. “Transparency is even more important,” Foster agreed, saying much of his stress came from lack of knowing the extent of lending problems. And Goldstein noted that establishing relationships with those business partners may just pull a farmer through a rough time, because most will try to help in whatever way they’re able if they believe your communications are on the up-and-up. “People going through this,” Foster said, “should know I have had a lot of happy moments since the worst thing I thought could happen in my life.” Removing an antagonist in your regular dealings does much to help relieve one’s stress level, he added. Leman would tell people feeling hopeless that when things change for the worse, it also means another door is opening to better times down the road. These days his biggest lingering regret is that his grandchildren no longer have ready access to a farm of his. It’s a far cry from the dark days of welcoming the possibility of death as an “out.” “Mental health is real,” he said, but, “I don’t know what all the answers are.” Goldstein, who spoke at the forum to help break the silence of those in agriculture who are suffering, agreed. “We don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.” Seeking help Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield, Ind., will hold a free Suicide Prevention QPR Training on Sept. 25 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for those who wish to learn more about how to help loved ones they worry may be contemplating ending their lives. QPR stands for “question, persuade, and refer” – three steps anyone can learn. To register, visit healthy365.in/qpr Too, there are multiple other resources for farmers anywhere, anytime to seek help – for mental health and otherwise – confidentially. Here are just a few: •Farm Aid Farmer Hotline: 800-FARM-AID (327-6243) •Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: 800-662-HELP (4357) •National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to 741741, 24 hours a day •Avera Health Farm and Rural Stress Hotline: 800-691-4336 •Veterans Crisis Line: 800-273-8255, Option 1 •Ag Behavioral Health: www.agbehavioralhealth.com •Rural Health Information Hub: www.ruralhealthinfo.org |
