Looking out for farmers' mental health...

Farmer suicides have skyrocketed in the Indian state of Chattisgarh, where farmers have been been feeling increasingly hopeless about mountainous debt. The indebtedness has been linked to a falling water table by many, to the adoption of genetically modified cotton by others. Whatever the reason, 1,500 farmers in Chattisgarh have killed themselves according to recent news reports. While the span of time wasn't discernible from the reports - whether it was a day, a week, a month or a year - 1,500 is a tragic number.

In the U.S., more than 900 male farmers in the Upper Midwest committed suicicide in the 1980s,
at a rate that was double that for the general population of American men. The decade was a particularly stressful time for farmers, with record indebtedness, unstable prices, declining land values and drought. There were thousands of foreclosures and bankruptcies. With today's headlines virtually echoing those of the '80s, farm organizations and leaders are on alert about farmers' mental health.

When a modern farmer does commit suicide, there's some thought that he has been overwhelmed not by his debt load, but by the fact that he has ceded so much control over his business. Swine producers and poultry growers, in particular, might be seen as mere hired hands because they don't own the animals in their care. Those farmers, however, are in total control of how well the chickens and pigs fare. If a farmer's animals do well, he does well. He may not hit the top of the market, but he doesn't have to worry about the bottom.

Whether contract growers or not, guaranteed a modest profit or totally at the mercy of the marketplace, these are tough times for anybody in agriculture. Let's hope we've learned from the tragic experiences of the 1980s. What's true right now in India on a large scale is true here in the U.S., albeit with a smaller number of reported suicides.

Suicide can be about a lot of things, but with a farmer in particular, it is often about money.

PFB pres objects to ag budget cuts...Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President Carl Shaffer told a gathering of PFB members in Guthriesville last week that he was unhappy about the way farmers are being treated in the current budget. Other state programs have been cut an average of 8 percent, while ag is getting hit with 17 percent cutbacks. Staff writer Chris Torres reports on Shaffer's speech in the current edition of Lancaster Farming.

Things you hope you never have to say...Everything I know about using a chain saw I learned the hard way.

The funniest dog trick I ever saw...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DalB-CvO7Qc (Thanks, Judy.)