Dark thoughts on a spring day

By BECKY NELSON
Bramblings
I think spring might really be here.

It has been a long time coming but some trees around the farm are in full bloom. Willows in the swampy areas have sent their fuzzy flowers out to spread some pollen as have the beautiful bright red maple blossoms.

We just finished pruning the apple orchard and have moved over to the raspberry field to complete pruning we didn’t finish last fall. Pruning takes a lot of work. If you own a few fruit trees, grapes, blueberries or raspberry plants, you certainly know the work required and the timing crunch. We must finish pruning before the buds pop and the plants start to send their leaves out. We are hoping to finish up the raspberries by next week, as we need to get seeds in the ground, too.

The long days of springtime for a farmer take their toll, especially as lots of us farmers are getting older. We don’t seem to move as quickly as we used to and the literal pains in the neck and back and shoulders from pruning, mulching, running a rototiller or a chainsaw or swinging a hoe or any other number of tools of the trade take a physical toll.

The stresses of the slow times take an economical toll and the worries of getting work done when it needs to be done take a mental toll, too.

My mother has a favorite saying that getting old ain’t for sissies. Being a farmer at any age ain’t for sissies, either. But on most days for me, the rewards greatly outweigh the stresses and the pain.

Preserving the land and keeping it from development is as satisfying as picking or harvesting a crop. Making a haven for the birds and animals, even if we have to fight them off from trying to eat our crops, is a reward that cannot be explained.

I and other farmers like me feel the threat of losing their prized possession of land all too often, though. With prices for food and milk at flat or low levels while the prices for supplies, increased costs due to increased regulation, rising interest rates, and fuel and taxes rising at a steady rate, profits continue to shrink and stresses continue to inflate.

Lots of farmers have given up and sold the farm or settled into retirement, and many more will make the change over the next few years as the majority of us in the business approach retirement age.

All too often, the stresses become overwhelming, which worries me. With suicide rates as high as they are among farmers, I am assuming that mental health problems and depression are equally as high.

I was surprised at a bulletin recently sent by the USDA to dairy farmers, speaking of suicide and giving help numbers for anyone who was having a tough time mentally or considering suicide as a solution to the problems of failing farms. It seemed drastic, but feeling the stress myself on many occasions, I understood the need.

Farm stress can be a nightmare and according to reports by the CDC, the suicide rate among farmers and agricultural workers — including ranchers, fishermen and all manner of people who grow and harvest our food — is higher than any other career in the nation and is double that of military veterans.

And the problem doesn’t stop in American borders, according to a chilling and poignant article in The Guardian written by a former farmer, Debbie Weingarten: “The US farmer suicide crisis echoes a much larger farmer suicide crisis happening globally: an Australian farmer dies by suicide every four days; in the UK, one farmer a week takes his or her own life; in France, one farmer dies by suicide every two days; in India, more than 270,000 farmers have died by suicide since 1995.”

Weingarten interviewed spouses and family of farm suicide victims and said the suicide rate may even be higher than known as it is thought that some suicides are concealed as farm accidents.

This article has shaken me to my core. I personally know the weight that a farm rides on your shoulders and have cried many tears over decisions and priorities in financial and land ownership responsibilities.

That these stresses drive some of my fellow farmers to the drastic and horrifying decision to take their own lives burns me somewhere in my soul. That we as a global society have allowed the people that feed us to suffer so much makes me angry and disappointed.

But the decisions of whether to pay the taxes or pay for a medical procedure or pay the electric bill are very real for farmers. And we are getting old and young people are hesitant to enter the field, finding it much easier and more attractive to find a career with fewer stresses and higher pay.

Somehow we as a society seem to harbor a false perception that farmers are rich and tend to blame “corporate” farming for everything from destroying the planet with fertilizers and methane to what we consider high prices for food and milk.

The facts are that the corporate farms, just like the small farm down the street, are owned by people. People with families and businesses who have trouble getting folks who want to work on the farm, who have trouble paying their bills, who have medical and emotional problems just like them and who are just trying to make a living the best way they know how.

I don’t have the solutions. I know that we are working toward selling our development rights tin a land trust agreement to help pay off some debt and make survival as a farm more of a reality than a hope. Not all farms can do this, nor is it a panacea or a sustainable business plan.

I don’t know how to solve this dilemma and I cannot predict the long-term plight of the farmer.

New technologies and artificial intelligence may be a help as we go forward but those technologies and assistive devices that may take the place of a worker may not be the best solution either, as more folks are put out of work. Farming is a dilemma. I urge you to read this article:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/06/why-are-americas-farmers-killing-themselves-in-record-numbersand think about it next time you wince at the price of a gallon of milk, a box of crackers, a beef steak or a box of cereal.

Becky is co-owner of Beaver Pond Farm in Newport. She can be reached at [email protected]