By Oregon Family Farm Association,
Farmers are two to three times more likely to kill themselves than the general public, according to a study by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which prompted calls to create a suicide helpline for people who work the land, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Senate Bill 955 would provide $300,000 in state money to set up a suicide hotline called AgriStress dedicated to help farmers and ranchers who work primarily alone from dawn to dusk every day and face financial disaster from out-of-control causes such as droughts, wildfires, and bad weather.