Ounster Baldwin introduces bill to promote farmers’ mental health programs

The bipartisan Senate duo wants to ensure farmers are provided with suicide prevention and mental health resources.

Sens. Tammy Baldwind-wis. and Joni ErnstR-iowa joins together to introduce legislation that will provide millions of new funding for the Farm and Ranch Aid Network, which will first work together in the Farm Act 2018.

The program is designed to help build networks for farmers, ranchers and other agricultural workers to obtain stress assistance and Mental Health program. Washington, New York, Illinois and Tennessee have four regional hubs that can help farmers through grant-funded programs.

Ricketts, Fetterman jointly cracks down on China’s attempt to buy American farmland

“Recently, stress, isolation and physical need leave them nowhere to go,” Baldwin said of the stress and mental health struggles faced by farmers and agricultural workers.”

In fact, farmers are three and a half times more likely to die from suicide than the average U.S. population, according to a study by the National Rural Health Association.

Trump administration decisively stops China from “weaponizing” American farmland

R-Iowa Senator Joni Ernst spoke at a reporter at the U.S. Capitol on November 19, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Their bill, called Farmers First Act, will increase funding for the program by $75 million over the next five years in 2025, of which $15 million will be provided for each fiscal year starting from 2026 to 2030.

The money will be used to hire more behavioral health experts, build crisis lines, and establish recommendation relationships with health care providers, health centers and key visiting hospitals.

“Zero to Zero”: Bipartisan House Alliance’s Senior Suicide Crisis against VA Act

R-Iowa’s Rep. Randy Feenstra walked down the House after a vote at the Capitol on Thursday, April 27, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)

“Farmers in Iowa work tirelessly from sunrise to sunset – rain or shine – feed and burn the world for the world,” Ernst said. “Their job is not easy, and mental health issues, including suicide, are too common in our farming communities, which is why I’m working to make sure farmers have better access to mental health resources.”

The program received funding in 2020, when the regional hub could receive more than $28 million in three-year batches. This fund is 2019 Coronavirus PandemicWhen Congress injects an additional $28 million to allow states to maintain their own stress assistance programs. The latter funds can be provided by grants up to $500,000 to the state program.

The bill is also an effort by both houses. represent. Randy FeenstraR-Iowa and D-Minn.

Click to get the Fox News app

Feenstra believes that the repopulation of the program’s cash repository will “provide real support for farmers during times of crisis.”

“Agriculture is the economic engine of Iowa, and our farmers and producers work for a long time and make invisible sacrifices to feed and promote our country and the world,” he said. “These sacrifices can cause losses to our farm producers, especially when commodity prices fall or bad weather can destroy crops.”