“For decades, farmers across the country have been dying by suicide at higher rates than the general population” — nearly double the U.S. average, says Newsweek. “The exact numbers are hard to determine, mainly because suicides by farmers are under-reported (they may get mislabeled as hunting or tractor accidents, advocates for prevention say) and because the exact definition of a farmer is elusive.”
Psychologist Michael Rosmann, active in efforts to prevent farmer suicide, says there is an “agrarian imperative” among farmers, an innate desire to cultivate the land and produce food. “He says farmers take significant risks to satisfy that drive, and if they are unsuccessful, they develop a deep sense of failure. ‘Farmers are motivated to hang on to land at almost all cost,’ he says” in Newsweek.