Published 9:05 am Monday, April 14, 2025
Several Oregon FFA members recently shone a spotlight on farmer mental health and farm stress as part of their projects.
Each year, FFA members select speech topics based on current agricultural issues that resonate with them, said Kjer Kizer, Oregon FFA CEO. Advisors provide guidance, but the choice of topic is entirely student-driven.
“I can confidently share that we’re seeing a notable increase in student interest around mental health, especially as it relates to agriculture,” Kizer said. “Many of our members and their families are directly involved in the ag sector, so this topic hits close to home.”
Ag and natural resource industries have a much higher than average risk for suicide, said Kaycee Headley, project director for Oregon State University’s AgriStress Helpline, now in its 18th month.
“Farmers, ranchers, commercial fishers and loggers die by suicide at a rate of two to five times greater than other industries,” Headley said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified rural men over the age of 49 as a “high risk” group for suicide, regardless of occupation.
“This is a crisis, but it’s not an unsolvable problem,” Headley said. “Improving access to mental health resources and reducing stigma are just a couple things we can do to lower the risk for Oregon’s producers and laborers.”
OSU Extension is collaborating with agricultural educators to develop a mental health curriculum, to be available for classroom use at teachers’ discretion.
Oregon FFA is partnering with the Roundhouse Foundation and AgriStress to produce a commercial promoting the hotline, Kizer said.
Samuel Moss, president of the Astoria FFA chapter, a high school senior, hosted a rural work stress seminar and pancake breakfast for local farmers and industrial workers in November. It drew about 30 participants.
Moss previously spoke about mental health in agriculture for his public speaking career development event, and was struck by the level of stress that farmers face.
“To see that the suicide rates and depression among agriculturalists are so significantly higher than the national average, it was mindblowing to me,” he said.
Rural male farmers in particular “do not open up about their emotions well,” Moss said. “We knew they probably weren’t going to share their stories unless they felt like they could.”
Several audience members did open up.
“I think it was super powerful and important that those people were able to have that space where they felt safe enough to share something like that,” he said.
The event served as Moss’s community service and senior project. Moss partnered with OSU Extension, the AgriStress helpline and a local church.
Many farmers can feel isolated and alone, Moss said.
“The biggest thing is that it is OK to talk about it, and there are people within the community who want to help them,” he said.
Josephine Bingaman, of Imbler FFA, a sophomore and Eastern Oregon FFA district president, spoke about mental health in agriculture as she competed in sophomore speaking events.
“We think of farmers and ranchers as the strongest members of our workforce, and we don’t always think of them as being the ones with the mental health struggles,” Bingaman said. “I think it is really important that we advocate for our farmers, because it is such a small minority that is feeding, clothing, sheltering and providing for the rest of the world.”
Bingaman said she gained a lot of knowledge researching for the speech, and would welcome the opportunity to talk to other groups about the subject.
“The truth is, more people struggle with (mental health) than you would know,” she said. “A lot of people don’t like to talk about it; they like to be strong, independent, tough, but sometimes it’s important that we reach out to others, have those tough conversations and make sure they know they’re not alone.”
The helpline number is 833-897-2474. Headley encourages farmers to save it in their phone so it’s handy if they need to share it or use it themselves.
“No problem is too big or small for the call specialists at the other end of the line,” Headley said. “They are trained and certified in suicide prevention and in resource referral (and) have access to local mental health, financial and other support services.”
