GRAYSON COUNTY, Texas (KXII) – The two highest rates of suicide in the United States are our veterans and our farmers.
“We’re standing on approximately a little over 500 acres on the hillside that our family’s been farming for 60, 70 years. We’re fourth generation through me and my wife,” said Howe farmer Scott Renfro. “In lieu of that, it’s getting tougher and tougher. I’m not sure what the future will hold in store.”
Renfro said that’s due to uncertainty in crop conditions and inflation.
“The war with Iran and all, it just kind of ripple effects through everything,” said Renfro. “We’ve had the last two years an excess of rain. On top of what we could get for our crops, definitely not high enough to counter the input prices. It is a struggle. Its been very stressful on top of that.”
In 2005, Renfro received nearly $7 per corn bushel. Wednesday, it was $4.86.
“That three dollars difference is a big difference. If you start cutting back on fertilizer and your normal inputs, you’re not going to really gain much.”
With over 7,000 acres to farm, the chances to sit and talk about the strain are few and far between.
“I’m guilty of it too,” Renfro said. “Every farmer hates to ask for help because we don’t want to feel like we’re dependent for it.”
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller echoed that truth. To break that “tough act” stigma, he began the ArgriStress program to bring resources to the ag worker, who’s not likely to head into the city to ask for help.
“They stay on the tractor twelve or fourteen hours a day, or in the milking parlor, or checking the cows, and they don’t talk to anybody,” Miller said.
The Texas Department of Agriculture’s “AgriStress hotline” has restored peace of mind for countless Texans. Miller recalled one man who found hope in connecting.
“The gentleman said ‘Commissioner Miller, I want to thank you. I had decided to end it all last night. Ten o’clock I was sitting in front of my TV with a shotgun. I saw your segment on the news about the AgriStress helpline, I called it, and you’ve turned my life around,” recalled Miller.
Any ag workers who need support can call the AgriStress hotline at (833) 897-2474, and anybody in a crisis can call or text the national suicide hotline at 988 to get support.
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