A Bedford Co. farmer shares his story

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BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. – You might think spending time on a farm is a peaceful escape, but for many farmers, it can be stressful, as they work to protect their crop.

Statistics show the job has one of the highest rates of suicide in the country.

Farming is all W.P. Johnson has known. He’s fourth generation growing wheat, soybeans, and a lot of the other foods we eat.

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“We’ve been here since 1910,” farmer W.P. Johnson said. “We’ve been going ever since.”

Johnson said farming isn’t easy work by any means.

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“I can’t explain it, but I know that the pressures of what we do trying to make sure that the family meets their goals and take care of that stuff but also meet the demand and the goals of the farm as well as the predecessors before us trying to keep the industry going works on you a lot,” Johnson said.

Factors beyond a farmer’s control like severe weather that causes a financial loss, and isolation from the outside world, are just a few of the stressors that can have devastating effects on farmers. Johnson lost a friend to it.

“They milked for a living, tried to make it, sold out of the dairy business and realized that they couldn’t function because that’s what their life was about and tragically lost his life,” Johnson said.

Farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than others, according to the National Rural Health Association.

There is a resource available for people struggling. AgriSafe launched a helpline specifically for farmers a couple of years ago.

“The people working in Ag deserve to talk to someone who understands those stressors,” AgriSafe Health Communications Officer Laura Siegel said.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text the AgriStress Helpline available 24/7 at 833-897-2474.

“I hope that as future generations come into and things change that the openness piece of it, just being able to talk about it helps out,” Johnson said.

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