The suicide rate among farmers and ranchers is nearly four times the rate for other populations in the U.S. Suicide rates among agriculture producers originally began dominating headlines in the mid-1980s, during the Farm Crisis..
Congressman Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) announced his latest bipartisan bill establishing a hotline through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide mental health support for farmers, ranchers, farm workers, and their families. The National Agricultural Crisis Hotline Act would help provide emotional support, information, suicide crisis intervention, mental health, and