Farmers' suicides in the United States refers to the instances of American farmers taking their own lives, largely since the 1980s, partly due to their falling into debt, but mainly as a larger mental-health crisis among U.S. agriculture workers. In the Midwest alone, over 1,500 farmers have taken their own lives since the 1980s. It mirrors a crisis happening globally: in Australia, a farmer dies by suicide every ten days;"Farmers still face higher rates of suicide with one death every 10 days in Australia" in the United Kingdom, one farmer a week takes their own life; and in France it is one every two days. Almost 300,000 farmers have died by suicide since 1995 in India."Farmer suicides" – The Tribune India, November 1, 2021

Farmers are among the most likely to die by suicide, in comparison to other occupations, according to a study published in January 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Researchers at the University of Iowa found that farmers, and others in the agricultural trade, had the highest suicide rate of all occupations from 1992 to 2010, the years covered in a 2017 study. The rate was 3.5 times that of the general population. This echoed a study conducted the previous year by the CDC and another undertaken by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA).

As of April 2023, the suicide rate within the farming community exceeds that of the general population by three and a half times.

Background

In 1980, Federal Reserve actions to stem stagflation and president Jimmy Carter's implementation of a grain embargo against the Soviet Union resulted in the 1980s farm crisis, resulting in a large increase in farm foreclosures.

In 1985, after Ronald Reagan had been president for four years, the Farm Credit System (FCS) lost $2.7 billion – the largest one-year loss of any financial institution in U.S. history. That same year, 40-year-old farmer Dean Hagedorn walked into a bank in Spencer, Iowa, with a check for $94,000, the proceeds of that year's corn crop from his farm of . He planned to use three-quarters to keep his bank loan payments up to date, and to parcel the remainder out to other creditors, but the bank kept the entire amount.

"There's a silent atrophy creeping across the heartland", said Joan Blundall, a mental-health counselor in rural Iowa, in 1987. "And I don't think anyone knows yet where we are headed.""What Five Families Did After Losing The Farm" – The New York Times. February 4, 1987. As of 2019, farm debt was at $416 billion, an all-time high, and median farm income was projected to be −$1,644. Over half of all farmers have lost money every year since 2013, and farm loan delinquencies are increasing.

According to the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), farmers' suicide rate is 3.5 times greater than that observed in the broader population. From 2000 to 2018, there was a 34% increase in the suicide rate in urban areas compared to 48% in rural areas. In March 2023, the association, which has a membership of 21,000 including rural hospitals and clinics, submitted a letter to House and Senate agricultural committees calling on them to respond to what the NRHA's chief executive officer called "a deep-seated and longstanding problem." The association requested a tailored national crisis line to respond to farmers, along with funding increase for the stress assistance network.

Causes of farmers' suicides Several causes of the farmers' suicides have been pinpointed:

Farmers experienced a loss of pride in being able to either keep their farm, or run it to its full potential. Some farmers expect to reach certain milestones, such as passing the farm on to the next generation or expanding their facility. Prices for commodities such as corn, soybeans, milk and meat had shrunk by around half between 2012 and 2020.

Farm debt had increased by around a third since 2007, rising to levels last experienced in the 1980s. Interest rates rose from single digits to 21.5% in 1981. A $28-billion federal-aid provision, rolled out by the Trump administration over two years, did not provide enough to recoup income lost during the China–United States trade war. Physical isolation can make it hard for farmers to get assistance for their mental-health problems. Farmers often own guns, thus providing "an immediate means to act on deadly impulses". The consolidation of rural schools resulted in farm children having to ride on the bus for hours each day. Inclement weather, including the Midwestern floods and the droughts of 1983 and 1988, prevented farmers from utilizing almost in just 2019. Soybean exports to China dropped 75% from 2017 to 2018.

A study published in 2021 found that food producers have higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide risk (with self-blame being the only variable that had a significant association with this risk).An Analysis of Suicide Risk Factors among Farmers in the Midwestern United States – Andrea Bjornestad, Courtney Cuthbertson and Jessie Hendricks (MDPI, 2012), International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

In Oklahoma, specifically, Eric Ramírez-Ferrero (who grew up in Enid) found that "large numbers of people could not keep up with technological progress and have had their expectations of a comfortable life frustrated."

Zach Ducheneaux, administrator of the Farm Service Agency, said: "Our producers are constantly expected to do more with less, innovate and improve, raise a family, preserve a legacy—and let's not forget feeding and clothing the world while we're at it."

Financial pressures are exacerbated by international trade, pandemics that decimate livestock, and other global forces, as well as weather-related natural forces. Farmers perceive mental illness, such as depression, as a weakness to be overcome with hard work, and avoid seeking treatment.

Between April 2024 and March 2025, over 250 farms in the United States went bankrupt."A Silent Truth Hidden in the Farm Economy: Farmer Suicides Are on the Rise" – AG Web

Localities affected Midwest More than 900 farmers took their own lives in five upper Midwestern states during the 1980s farm crisis, described as "the worst agricultural economic crisis since the Great Depression". Between 2014 and 2018, over 450 more committed suicide (around one-third of them between 2017 and 2018), although the actual total is believed to be higher because not every state provided suicide data for each year, some redacted portions of the data, and some reported the deaths as agricultural accidents. 75 farmers committed suicide across six Midwestern states in 2017. That total increased by one the following year. Of those 76 farmers, eighteen lived in Missouri and Kansas, fifteen in Wisconsin, thirteen in Illinois and twelve in North Dakota.

Iowa

47-year-old Philip Fetter, of Chelsea, took his own life on July 25, 1982, leaving his wife of 24 years, Norma,"Farm Crisis" – Iowa PBS, July 1, 2013. to care for ten children on her own, and to cope with overwhelming debt. Their farm and house were sold back to the Federal Land Bank at a substantial loss."Farm Families Changed by the Farm Crisis" – Iowa PBS, YouTube, September 6, 2013 Norma survived her husband by 37 years. She died in 2019, aged 85.Norma Jean Fetter, January 23, 1934 – May 21, 2019 – Neuhaus Funeral Service

On July 31, 1984, 56-year-old Kenneth Meisgeier hanged himself in the machine shed on his farm in Arlington after declaring bankruptcy. He was found by his son. Meisgeier belonged to the most at-risk group of farmers, who were over 50 and could not see a way forward.

On April 3, 1985, Daniel Cutler, of Sioux City, shot himself at an abandoned farmstead on his way back home to his wife, Karen, after visiting family. Cutler, 38, left a message hinting at where his suicide note could be found. "The opening statement of the suicide note was 'The farm killed me,'" Karen (now Heidman) said. Cutler became deeply indebted and the value of his farmland had depreciated significantly.

On December 9, 1985, Dale Burr, 63, of Lone Tree fatally shot himself, in the presence of a police officer, after killing his wife Emily, 64; John Hughes, 46, a bank president; and a neighboring farmer, Richard Goody. 38. At the time of his death, Burr was in debt more than $500,000. He left a note beside his wife's body that said, "I'm sorry. I can't take the problems anymore." The news shocked the entire state, including Governor Terry Branstad, who knew the banker's family. Burr had been pressured by his bank, Hills Bank and Trust Company, to sell his livestock and machinery to pay some of his debt. He had been in a dispute with Goody regarding farming of land.

Herman "Charlie" Behrens, of Sibley, tried to keep his family's 124-year farming tradition alive, but ultimately had to admit defeat. "I only had about $19,000 in loans", he said in 1987. "The same banker I dealt with all my life, he comes out one day and says the value of my machinery is $5,000 below the value of my loan. I said, 'You know me. I'm Charlie. I never missed a payment in all my years.' Then he points to the top line of my loan where it says payable on demand. They'd call up at 7:30 in the morning. 'You got any money yet, Charlie?' they'd ask. And then they'd call back at 8:30 at night. I didn't know people could get that way. But, you see, they were scared, too, with all the problems around. And they figured they'd better get something out of some of us while they could. There were a lot of heart attacks around these parts. And then Jean fell sick." She died in 1986.

On May 11, 2011, Matt Peters left a suicide note for his wife, Ginnie, on the desk in his workshop in Perry. He killed himself in his truck the following day."Why are America's farmers killing themselves?" – The Guardian, December 11, 2018Matthew Peters – Legacy.com

Barb Kalbach, a corn and soybean farmer in Dexter,Kalbach, Barb – OurCampaigns.com says that on the square mile of land where she lives, five different families used to grow corn, beans, hay, cattle and pigs. Since around 2005, the other four families have given up and moved out of town. Kalbach also now has to travel 75 miles to buy chemicals, and there is no longer a local farm equipment repair business. "All the thousands of farmers that have left the land — all the businesses have gone with them."

Kansas

John Blaske, of Onaga, said in 2017: "In the last 25 to 30 years, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about suicide." He lost his house in a fire on Thanksgiving Day in 1982 which left him and his wife homeless. The farm crisis intensified around the same time, and their bank raised their interest rate from 7% to 18%. Blaske filed for bankruptcy and lost .

In 2017, suicide was the eighth-highest cause of death in Kansas. This ranked at 13th nationally for suicides.

Michigan Farmers are among those with the highest rates of suicide in Michigan, and it is a rate over five times that of the other working sectors of the state. In 2023, eleven people working in agricultural industries, including farming, died by suicide. Farming families own 95% of the state's farms, but in 2023 less than half of those had an income that was net positive. Michigan has seen a 7% decline in farms since 2017, with around 44,000 remaining as of 2025. Minnesota