The CDC has retracted a widely-cited study that found farmers had the highest rate of suicide of any profession.
The report, which was published in 2016, said farmers took their own lives twice as much as veterans.
But this week, health officials revealed they have found errors in the initial data that suggest the study may have been flawed.
In particular, they found that suicide rates of other professions had been attributed to farmers as well, dramatically driving up the rate.
The farming industry is bolstering outreach efforts amid a surge in suicides across the US, but new figures show the suicide rate may not be as high as previously feared
The CDC is now embarking on an in-depth data analysis of the initial findings and more recent data to understand the issue suicide in the agriculture industry.
When the initial report came out, the figures were regarded as shocking – but, to many in the agriculture industry, unsurprising.
There was a huge spike in suicides in the US farm belt in the 1980s amid a crippling downtown in business, and recent years have not been kind to people toiling the land.
Many believe that even after a review farmers will have the highest suicide rate.
‘Things are tough in the countryside,’ said John Sorbello, a vegetable and nursery farmer in upstate New York and a director of the state’s farm bureau, an affiliate of the nation’s biggest farm group, in a recent interview with Agence France Presse.
Dairy farmers are facing especially tough times, he said.
‘There’s nothing to do over the pricing of milk, they are worried about NAFTA, about the surplus in dairy products all over the world,’ Sorbello said.
‘It seems you have no control over it and it’s stressful.’
In fact, in the wake of the high profile deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain earlier this month, dairy cooperatives launched major outreach programs, braced for copycat suicides.
‘Some people thought it was too extreme,’ Sorbello said. ‘But it got everybody’s attention.’
Getting accurate figures will be tough, but farm advocates warn that this retraction should not lessen concerns about the mental health of farmers.
‘Oftentimes farm suicides are reported as accidents,’ said Jennifer Fahy, communications director for Farm Aid.
- For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or click here
- For confidential support on suicide matters in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here
- For confidential support in Australia, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or click here