Two factors that make production agriculture an ideal occupation for many farmers — working in the country and being independent — are also catalysts for a mental health crisis in rural America. Isolation and the fierce independence in agriculture create an environment where mental health issues thrive, says Oklahoma State University Extension Professor of Economics Shannon Ferrell.

“Many common factors in production agriculture tend to isolate us, physically and emotionally,” Ferrell said. Ferrell explained that late in the 2010s rural America “was on the precipice of a farm crisis that looked a lot like the 1980s.”