A different sort of farm aid

When Roni Ryan, a farmer from Poulsbo, Wash., first started seeing her therapist, she was recently divorced and struggling to manage a 5-acre farm with dozens of animals. Ryan said she was often left to handle the daily challenges of managing the farm on her own.

“It’s very isolating, because you’re just busy all day long,” she said. “Maybe you get to interact with your other farm friends on the phone. But socialization is at a premium.”

Conny Kirchhoff is the associate director at the Washington State University Psychology Clinic and Ryan’s therapist. She said many farmers face unique stressors with few opportunities to take time off.

“You can’t just say, ‘I’m, I’m not doing this.’ Going on vacations is really difficult,” Kirchhoff said. “There are just a lot of circumstances that are different for farmers.”

Kirchhoff’s expertise in issues affecting farmers’ mental health and her work with Ryan aren’t coincidental. The two first started sessions together as part of the grant-funded Farm Stress Counseling Voucher program.

The counseling voucher program offers farmers and farm workers six free online sessions with a trained psychologist, Kirchhoff said, with the option to continue at a sliding fee scale.

It is one in a series of initiatives led by the WSU Skagit County Extension, in partnership with the Washington state Department of Health, aimed at providing mental health support to farmers.

Others include resilience workshops, awareness campaigns and connecting farmers to support networks — such as the 988 suicide and crisis prevention lifeline.

According to the American Farm Bureau, farmer suicide rates are between two and five times higher than the national average.

Money is usually farmers’ main stress

Some of the biggest stressors farmers face are financial, Kirchhoff said.

Last year, Ryan said she had expected to make $180,000 in profits. Instead, she made about $56,000.

“I mean, how many years have I gotten away with pallet gates, not having the resources that you need to buy, like, T-posts,” she said. “Maybe you don’t have a building for your sheep, and they’re living in your greenhouse that should be growing food.”

Glade Brosi, a first-generation grower in the Upper Wenatchee Valley, said unpredictable market pricing is a major frustration. Brosi added that farmers also have to deal with unpredictable weather and labor shortages. Some are trying to maintain a multigenerational business.

In Brosi’s industry, in 2024, fresh pear exports dropped to some of the lowest levels in decades because of cold weather conditions, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We put the work in, we put the money in — it’s very expensive — but at the end of the day, we have no control over the market,” Brosi said. “Competing with international producers who face fewer labor and environmental regulations adds another layer of difficulty.”

Recent shifts in labor trends and wage policies have challenged small farmers like Brosi, who can struggle to pay farm workers. Labor shortages have led to a competitive environment for farmers looking to hire.

Washington state’s adverse effect wage rate — or the minimum hourly wage for H-2A workers — rose from $14.12 in 2018 to $19.82 in 2024. H-2A workers are temporary foreign agricultural laborers working in the U.S.

Brosi said larger farms can more easily fill labor shortages by hiring crews of H-2A workers. However, the program is often too costly for smaller growers. Farmers also are required to cover expenses such as food and housing.

Farmers who get injured or sick may also face stress from not having enough help to take time off, Kirchhoff said.

Ryan said she’s had to work through illness because she runs her farm alone.

“I got that weird flu where it was like, you had a fever of 104 for a week and body aches and chills and weakness,” she said. “I had to go out there twice a day and do all the chores.”

Reaching out to farmers

Though counseling can’t fix every problem, Ryan said working with Kirchhoff has helped her better manage her stress and work through some of the challenges she faces on the farm.

“S he’s specifically  for farmers, and that is incredibly important,” Ryan said.

Though Ryan volunteered to share her experience, Kirchhoff said, all counseling sessions and information about who uses the service is confidential.

Roughly 15 to 20 clients who work in farming have used the voucher program so far. Kirchhoff said there are hopes to grow it.

Kirchhoff first began seeing voucher clients through the program in 2022. Now, she’s training graduate-level supervisees to provide the same service. Clinicians who work with farmers need training to have an understanding of the cultural norms and values of the population they serve, she said.

“Often, being a farmer is really an identity piece. So if somebody struggles on their farm, I think it would be like the last thing to suggest, ‘Why don’t you just give up farming?’ ”

Farmers are highly resilient people, Kirchhoff said. But sometimes, some may find it difficult to ask for help when they’re experiencing mental health challenges.

“There is not a tradition to reach out and seek help,” she said.

Jon DeVaney is president of the Washington Tree Fruit Association, a nonprofit that supports the tree fruit industry by providing market data to growers and lawmakers. He said for many farmers, their land is more than a workplace — it’s a legacy.

“Your orchard or farm is your home, it’s your family business. The added pressure of maintaining what was passed down to you — and preparing to hand it off to the next generation — creates enormous stress,” he said.

Ninety-four percent of Washington state farms are family-owned, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

Brosi said he believes that the farming community must evolve to better address stress and mental health challenges.

“In agriculture, the way things work is that someone has to try something first — whether it’s a new tool or a new method. If it works, they talk about it at the coffee shop or winter meetings,” he said. “The same needs to happen with mental health resources. Someone has to say, ‘I did this, and it helped.’ That’s how things spread in ag.”

Some programs, such as the Western Regional Agricultural Assistance Program, aim to provide farmers with resources and connections to help them deal with the stressors that often lead to mental health challenges.

One of its initiatives, Pizza 4 Producers, brings farmers together using pizza-making classes as a tool to help farmers connect with other people in their community.

Kirchhoff said some people working with WSU’s Skagit County extension also do outreach with groups like 4-H — a youth development program popular in many farming communities — to bring resources to young people early.

“We have to have good avenues to have an in,” Kirchhoff said. “To really work with key people in their communities to be able to make a difference.”

Diaz may be contacted at renee.diaz@wenatcheeworld.com. Collaborative reporting by The Wenatchee World, NWPB and WSU’s Murrow College of Communication Newsroom Fellowship. Sun covers health care in the Northwest, and can be reached at rsun@lmtribune.com. Her work is made possible by the cooperative agreement with NWPB, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.