For many producers, fiscal, financial, and emotional stress tends to boiled down to a constantly repeating question:

"How am I overall going to care for my family and all of the financial obligations that go with that?" said Charlotte Halverson an occupational health nurse with AgriSafe.

She said sometimes these pressures can build up in a person over time to a point of desperation. And she noted it’s a good idea to watch for certain dangers signs in people or in yourself.

"An increase of substance abuse, maybe stopping taking medications or hoarding them, seemingly excessively depressed, and physically the inability to sleep or sleeping all the time," Halverson noted. "Sometimes there’s a significant change in weight. Sometimes people have a preoccupation with death and dying; this is an important thing to pay attention to and to be with them and to talk and maybe try to get help immediately."

A recent CDC study pings the suicide rate among farmers about one and a half times higher than the national average.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com

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