By Russell Lackey and Trisha Wheelock for Faith & Leadership via The Daily Yonder.
Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Iowa News Service reporting for The Daily Yonder-Public News Service Collaboration

In the 1960s sitcom "Green Acres," wealthy New Yorkers leave the city for rural life. As the show's twangy theme song says, "Farm living is the life for me." It's a funny, lighthearted show - but in reality, many farmers' lives are far from idyllic.

In January 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report on suicide rates by occupation. Farmers landed in the top five. Along with workers in construction, mining, transportation, and services such as auto repair, workers in agriculture die by suicide at disproportionally high rates. The complexity of farming, along with isolation, shame over economic distress, and a lack of mental health resources is fueling this epidemic.

Four years ago, we launched The Moses Project, a program to equip rural pastors with resources for congregational leadership, connect them to peers and support them with mentors. Our hope was to inspire innovative thinking among those serving in rural settings. The effort is funded by a Thriving in Ministry grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

The name for the project came from Deuteronomy 34:7: "Moses was 120 years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated" (NRSV). The idea is that where there is vision, there is passion. We hoped to inspire vision among pastors. We didn't know that this work would also help improve mental health among farmers.

One of the program's exemplars is the Rev. Grant Woodley, a fourth-generation farmer and a Lutheran pastor. Woodley's bivocational work places him in a unique position to inform and inspire his colleagues. Speaking to a group of pastors, Woodley said, "Farmers face tremendous pressure, as global dynamics, the weather, economic markets - both domestic and global - and politics all factor into the business of farming."

That pressure can kill. We have pastors who've buried high school students and farmers in their 20s and 30s who feel overwhelmed at not being able to continue the family legacy. These deaths take a heavy toll on the local community - including the pastors themselves.

Yet farmers can serve as positive models, Woodley said. To survive, farmers need to be flexible in their business; they also need to be empathetic to care for themselves and loved ones in their community.

Woodley then challenged his colleagues to be pastors who "think like farmers": to be flexible and empathetic with the long game in mind. In other words, to practice traditioned innovation.

This challenge resonated for the Rev. Stephen Zeller, a project participant, who serves a rural congregation at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Cole Camp, Missouri. Zeller began thinking about the mental health of farmers in his church and community. He realized that no one talked about mental health. With empathy for the community, Zeller and his church decided to act.

The church hosted a concert at a family farm featuring the Peterson Farm Brothers band. Funded by a grant, it was touted as a "We love our farmers" event and included family activities and food. Zeller also invited participation from the local University of Missouri Extension Office.

The outdoor event was attended by 150-200 people and included eight representatives from the extension office - and lots of resources on suicide awareness for rural communities. Some farmers quietly grabbed pamphlets and avoided making eye contact. Others connected with church members, extension representatives and others.

The success of the concert led to further collaboration. Zeller's church partnered with a clinic for farmers. This free event included students completing a rural-track internship through the University of Missouri School of Medicine, who provided mental health screenings, a presentation on mental health and suicide awareness, and a free lunch.

By thinking like a farmer, Zeller identified needs in the community and sought collaboration partners who were already active in mental health support for rural communities. Such work not only helps the congregation flourish; it also brings an awareness that can save lives.

One thing is clear: Pastors and church leaders stand in a crucial space within rural America. Their buildings are often the nicest ones in town, and everyone has passed through those spaces for weddings, funerals, baptisms and other life events. When pastors and churches take the time to be flexible and creative, many blessings arise.

Zeller explains: "Being able to notice what we were doing well, what didn't need to be done, and what the needs around us were at that time allowed us to create new partnerships and offer God's love where it was really needed."

The church has an important role to play in facilitating conversations about suicide, mental health and other needs faced by rural communities. Unlike Moses, who watched a generation of his community die in the wilderness, we as rural pastors can work to help a generation of farmers live.

If we commit to thinking like farmers, with empathy and creativity, lives can be changed. And maybe over time, we might help more people in our communities say, "Farm living is the life for me."

Russell Lackey and Trisha Wheelock wrote this article for Faith & Leadership via The Daily Yonder.


get more stories like this via email

Massachusetts farmers said they are bracing for revenue losses due to cuts in fresh produce SNAP benefits.

Starting Dec. 1, families who utilize the state's Healthy Incentives Program to buy food directly from farmers will see their benefits cut to just $20 a month, regardless of household size.

Rebecca Miller, policy director for the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, said many farmers have structured their operations around SNAP customers.

"A lot of them are worried that they might have to do layoffs," Miller pointed out. "Especially for folks that they've hired that are multilingual that serve folks with SNAP benefits."

Miller stressed less money being spent at farmers' markets will have a ripple effect across the state's agricultural industry. Nearly 300 farmers participate in the SNAP program but state officials said the cuts are needed due to budget constraints.

The Healthy Incentives Program provides a dollar-for-dollar reimbursement when SNAP users buy healthy, local food directly from Massachusetts farmers. A state survey found that each dollar spent in the program results in an additional $2 in local economic impact, when farmers spend the money on local goods and services. Miller emphasized she is concerned about families getting through the winter.

"We expect to see increased food insecurity," Miller explained. "Folks needing to visit food pantries more, folks having to take more medicine to address chronic diet-related health needs."

Miller noted a study found each program participant increased their fresh fruit and vegetable intake by one serving per day, which leads to lower public health care costs over time. She added supporters are asking the legislature for an additional $10 million to maintain current funding levels through June. State officials say they are restructuring the program to ensure long-term viability.


get more stories like this via email

Kentucky farmers are using biosolids or "biosludge" from city sewage as cheap fertilizer but the price tag is high in terms of health, from toxic industrial chemicals known as PFAS and heavy metals contaminating produce, groundwater and soil.

Kentucky lawmakers have passed regulations experts said weaken protections for biosludge application on farmland.

Tom FitzGerald, attorney and former director of the Kentucky Resources Council, warned farmers in the Commonwealth trying to save money on fertilizer by using biosludge could end up with a significant headache down the road.

"Unless the cities are properly managing the waste that come into the system, and are sampling and clearing them for release for public use, I would simply tell the farmers not to take these biosludges, because the risks are so high," FitzGerald asserted.

According to open records request data from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, lab samples from around a dozen wastewater treatment plants statewide revealed most contained detectable levels of PFAS.

Adam Nordell said his small family-owned vegetable farm dream in Maine became a nightmare when he discovered sewage sludge applied decades prior had irreparably contaminated his land and groundwater with high levels of PFAS. He stressed he wants to raise awareness among farmers in other states about the risks, and the importance of testing.

"We had been living on contaminated land," Nordell explained. "We've been drinking contaminated water. We've been irrigating our crops and supporting our livestock with contaminated groundwater."

FitzGerald said Kentucky's regulations reduce accountability and do not require cities to test the biosludge before it's applied to farmland.

"The cabinet should have used its authority to broaden out the list of contaminants, to broaden out the sampling and testing requirements and to broaden out the notice requirements to farmers," FitzGerald contended.

According to the Environmental Working Group, at least 5% of all crop fields nationwide could be using biosludge likely contaminated with PFAS. And since 2016, more than 19 billion pounds of biosludge have been applied to farm fields.


get more stories like this via email

Some Iowa farmers are putting a new spin on an age-old animal behavior.

They're using goats to remove weeds, overgrown brush, and non-native grasses - while helping some landowners restore native habitat to their acres at the same time.

Goats are pretty well known for producing milk and cheese. They're even used to help practice yoga these days.

Matt Vermeersch is a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa who farms about 170 acres near Red Oak - near the Nebraska state line - and operates Goats-On-The-Go, a side business stocked with herds of goats hungry for woody vegetation.

"A lot of really what we refer to as weeds, or pain-in-the-butt plants," said Vermeersch. "Things that they love are things like poison ivy, nettles, wild berry species with their thorns - then more woody species like Honeysuckle or buckthorn."

Vermeersch estimated his three Goats-On-The-Go herds cleared about 120 acres of various vegetation this year, and could have done more had it not been for Iowa's severe spring and summer weather.

There are ecological benefits to the practice, too. People hire Vermeersch's goats to clear land where native species once grew, and where farmers want it to return.

Vermeersch said while Iowa landowners are often trying to clear overgrown brush and reintroduce native species, sometimes they just need stands of troublesome weeds and brambles removed.

At which, Vermeersch said, the goats have no equal.

"It almost looks like a wildfire went through there the day after you take the goats off," said Vermeersch. "We refer to it as a grazing line - and pretty much anything under 6 feet tall all that will be left are sticks and stems. All of the leafy material underneath that is usually consumed."

Vermeersch said the goats are used for different reasons across the country.

In western states, for example, they are dispatched to clear brush that can serve as wildfire fuel, reducing the chances that a fire can become catastrophic by keeping the underbrush down.