Clay County aims to improve agricultural mental health

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A new program in Clay County aims to lower the suicide rates among farmers.

The Clay Counts Coalition is focused on preventing and treating substance abuse and mental illness in an area lacking resources. The effort starts with connecting farmers to their communities.

“We know that our entire community, but particularly our farmers, are two times more likely to end their lives in suicide and struggle with mental health issues,” said Lori Martin, Clay Counts Coalition community mobilizer.

Agriculture workers are sometimes overlooked in conversations about mental health.

“Data shows that a lot of times, the ag community deals with it, but they deal with it without talking about it just because it’s kind of a taboo topic,” said Matt Weller, Clay Counts Coalition communications coordinator.

The Clay Counts Coalition is working to educate and ease the stigma with the farmer-to-farmer project by educating people on signs of mental health issues.

“We took 15 people who are on the front lines in dealing with our farmers in our community. We spent an entire day working together on learning and strategizing how we can take this national research and personalize it so it fits with Clay County,” Martin said.

Also, they work to host community events, like hatchet therapy, where they talk about frustrations.

“It allows them to have that sense of community and sense of sharing,” Martin said.

The Clay Counts Coalition is still in the beginning stages of its farmer-to-farmer project.

The coalition hopes to use grant funding to continue building resources and education in Clay County.

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