Rural Issue

Seeding Rural Resiliency Act

A bill that aims to help curb farmer suicide has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Jon Tester of Montana. Grassley says it’s the Seeding Rural Resiliency Act, “That bill aims to decrease the growing suicide rates through a voluntary stress management training program. We need to continue supporting our farmers and doing what we can to strengthen the men and women who feed the world.”

The bill includes training for USDA’s Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency and NRCS employees to provide voluntary stress management when they interact with farmers and ranchers. Grassley says the suicide rate in rural America is high.

“That rate is 45% higher in rural America than in urban areas.”

The American Farm Bureau commends the senators for introducing the bill, saying it builds on the 2018 Farm Bill which authorized $10 Million for the Farmers Stress Assistance Network.