U.S. Rep. Caraveo Announces Bipartisan Ag Crisis Hotline Bill at Local Behavioral Health Facility

Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo, M.D. (CO-08) this week announced her 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 families. The National Agricultural Crisis Hotline Act would help provide emotional support, information, suicide crisis intervention, mental health and substance use disorder support services, as well as agricultural related referral services. Unfortunately, the current rate of suicide among farmers is three and a half times higher than the general population.

At a roundtable she held on rural mental health at the North Range Behavioral Health Center in Greeley on Aug. 21, Caraveo announced she will introduce the bill alongside Congressman Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23) in the House and US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in the Senate. The Congresswoman also held a dialogue with rural behavioral health providers, organizations combatting suicide and advocating for rural mental health services, and farmers and ranchers themselves about the mental health crisis in agricultural communities.

“Our farmers and ranchers carry a heavy burden to put food on our tables every day. Unfortunately, that means many in our ag communities struggle with mental health — with a suicide rate three and a half times higher than other populations. My latest bipartisan bill provides resources to support our neighbors in crisis,” said Congresswoman Caraveo.

“Our farmers and ranchers face unique challenges in their line of work. Having an outlet with trained mental health professionals who are familiar with the circumstances that our agricultural workers and their families experience will go the extra step in promoting healthy outcomes within the agricultural community,” said Congressman Tony Gonzales.

“The Colorado delegation has a history of finding solutions to the mental health complexities that face our nation. The internal and external pressures that farmers and ranchers experience have resulted in a significant mental health crisis. Colorado Farm Bureau’s Colorado Ag Addiction and Mental Health Program (CAAMHP) works to address this crisis for Colorado, and we applaud Congresswoman Caraveo’s bipartisan effort to address our farmers and ranchers needs at the national level. The National Ag Crisis Hotline Act provides an additionally meaningful and immediate resource for competent care in agricultural communities that is so desperately needed,” said Taylor Szilagyi, Executive Vice President of the Colorado Farm Bureau.

The mental health crisis has hit farmers and ranchers particularly over the past several years. They already face significant financial pressures managing their land in the face of small margins and have confronted external factors ranging from severe weather events that threaten livestock and crops to a tumultuous economic environment caused by inflation. These are combined with a lack of access to mental health care as well as a strong stigma against asking for help. Unfortunately, we are now finding that the rate of suicide among farmers is three and a half times higher than among the general population

To combat this, some states have established farmer mental health lines, but because farming can be specific to a state or region, a farmer in Colorado may not be facing the same issues as a farmer in Texas. A national line will help ensure that no matter where a farmer or rancher is, they are able to get the help they need.

Key organizations supporting the bill include: the Colorado Farm Bureau, National Grange, National Rural Health Association, and Rural Minds.