Rural America’s Silent Struggle: Why Mental Health Can’t Wait
Behind the abundant fields that feed America sits a crisis rarely discussed at kitchen tables or in political rallies: rural mental health is in a state of emergency. In farm towns from Iowa to Wisconsin, rates of depression, anxiety, and even suicide have sharply risen, pushing many farming families to the brink. It’s not just about tough weather or fickle markets; it’s relentless isolation, generational pressure, and a gnawing uncertainty about the future. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rural counties have suicide rates nearly twice as high as urban ones. Public awareness, however, lags far behind the scope of the problem.
This week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN) and Randy Feenstra (R-IA), took a decisive step by reintroducing the Farmers First Act of 2025. The legislation addresses the mounting psychological toll facing rural and agricultural populations. It proposes a notable funding boost for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN), increasing annual federal support from $10 million to $15 million for the next five years.
Baldwin, in announcing the bill, made it clear that Washington must move beyond cosmetic gestures. “Farmers have kept our country fed and strong through every challenge,” she said, “but they shouldn’t have to face mental health challenges alone.” The numbers bear out her urgency: A 2022 survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation found 61% of U.S. farmers say their mental health is worse than five years ago, with nearly half reporting they or someone they know has struggled with thoughts of suicide.
Bipartisanship—or Bare Minimum?
Farmers may be the backbone of America’s food system, but the conservative neglect of rural mental health has long left them without the support that wealthier, urban populations take for granted. The bipartisan nature of the Farmers First Act is notable, and sorely needed: addressing farmer well-being transcends party lines, but it also exposes the limits of reactionary conservative policy. Years of Republican-led efforts to trim social services, privatize health care, and disregard rural hospital funding have left swaths of the Midwest and South with vanishing safety nets and fewer places to turn in times of crisis.
Rep. Angie Craig drew attention to the “compounded” nature of rural distress: financial uncertainty, lack of broadband, shame surrounding mental health, and rising corporate pressure converge to squeeze small operators. That’s why the new legislation goes beyond money, requiring more certified community behavioral health clinics, critical access hospitals, and rural health centers to truly reach the most isolated areas.
Beyond that, FRSAN grantees will be empowered to hire more staff—including behavioral health specialists able to deliver counseling directly to farmers and agricultural workers. These aren’t just numbers on a funding spreadsheet; they’re lifelines. FRSAN’s model provides tailored help. Regional centers have created hotlines, initiated rural mental health first aid training, and established farmworker-specific support groups. This is the exact kind of infrastructure that decades of conservative disinvestment have eroded.
The bill also recognizes the diversity of rural America. Targeted support for veteran farmers and farmers of color acknowledges not all rural experiences are equal. This approach reflects what progressive health experts insist is crucial: that interventions be not just robust, but culturally and regionally responsive. Harvard’s Dr. Anna Lembke, a leading psychiatrist, warns, “A one-size-fits-all solution won’t work when the stakes are this high. Rural resilience must be matched by tailored, accessible care.”
What True Rural Support Looks Like—And Why It Matters
Over a dozen leading agricultural, mental health, and rural advocacy groups—from the National Farmers Union to Farm Aid and the American Farm Bureau Federation—have endorsed the bill. Such a broad coalition is no accident and signals that calls for comprehensive, equitable rural policy are finally resonating outside political echo chambers.
The tragic truth is that American farm policy has too often prioritized powerful agribusiness over the well-being of the people actually working the land. A closer look reveals a history punctuated by congressional gridlock and the slow erosion of programs meant to sustain small farms and rural communities. During the farm crisis of the 1980s, suicide across the Midwest spiked as federal support shrank. Those wounds never fully healed. Now, with climate change, trade wars, and market volatility converging, the need for bold solutions couldn’t be clearer.
“You can’t talk about rural revitalization if you aren’t honest about rural suffering. This legislation is a step toward making invisible wounds visible—and finally treating them.”
Opponents to such measures, mainly from the hard-right, lament government spending, dismissing tailored mental health support as waste or nanny-state overreach. But the data—and lived experience—tell a vastly different story. According to a 2023 report from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, every dollar spent on mental health intervention in farm communities saves at least $4 in downstream productivity losses and emergency services.
Perhaps the strongest argument for action isn’t economic but moral. These are the communities that embody the best of American persistence yet have been left isolated as conservative lawmakers hollowed out rural health programs in favor of trickle-down promises that never arrived. The “Farmers First Act” isn’t just about funding clinics or phone lines; it’s about restoring dignity and hope to a group of Americans too often forgotten in the din of partisan squabbling.
What truly resonates is the recognition that mental health support must be normalized for all, no matter zip code or occupation. Programs like FRSAN—backed, at last, by real federal dollars—can teach rural America that seeking help isn’t a weakness, but a right as foundational as access to roads or clean water. Progressives and honest conservatives alike must now choose: preserve the status quo of neglect, or work together to lift up those who keep America going, season after season.
