A new nonprofit, Farm Dog, launched on 8 September with the aim of helping US farmers take the first step towards professional support before stress becomes a crisis. "We're on a mission to take care of every farmer in the US," co-founder Easton Kuboushek said at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa.

The group wants to remove the cost and stigma that keep farmers from seeking help by fully funding professional sessions, offered through atrustedear.org with counsellors trained in farmers' needs. Kuboushek said agribusinesses care about the issue but act alone, and Farm Dog wants to pull those efforts together.

Apparel is part of the approach: shirts carry a QR code linking to the service, companies can put it on work clothing, and sales by neighbours, friends and spouses fund care. Kuboushek, who lost his father to alcoholism, said reaching out early matters because at the point of crisis "it's actually almost too late".

Farm Dog is not a crisis service; farmers in immediate distress are directed to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or the Iowa Concern hotline. "You've got the combine ready, you've got the marketing plan in place. Have you checked the box on yourself?" Kuboushek asked.

Photo: Tim McCabe, USDA NRCS / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Source: American Ag Network