Farmer Focus: Farmer friend’s suicide is devastating blow
Daniel Mushrush © Kandace Griffin I struggled mightily with this month’s topic and really debated whether to even write about it.
There is a stigma surrounding suicide here in the US. But writing about the loss of a friend has proven therapeutic for me.
See also: Talk about mental health, says farmer who lost dad to suicide
About the author
Things have been difficult the past few years as I am sure they have been in the UK.
Covid wrecked markets, people who were already isolated basically spent two years in social seclusion, and then, after waiting for a recovery, inflation showed up and caused more financial pain.
Now, interest rates are exploding upwards here to levels that young producers like myself have never seen before.
Variable rates are going up, and 3.5% interest rates locked in last year are resetting to 7% or higher.
At some point, the strengthening dollar will almost certainly begin to weigh on prices as exports start to come under pressure.
The final insult has been drought, which is making things in Kansas very difficult.
Of course, if you look elsewhere for distraction, the news is going to be about Ukraine, Trump versus Biden, and Twitter. They are not exactly the most optimistic diversions.
All of this said, agriculturists here commit suicide at a rate of six times the average American. Unfortunately, this became a reality for me this month. I lost a friend.
He was a father of four great kids and husband to a wonderful wife.
He was a fellow Red Angus breeder from my wife’s home town, and in a lot of ways we were on the same path.
I’ve reflected quite a bit trying to understand what happened, and either there is no answer, or I don’t have the correct EQ (emotional quotient) to comprehend it.
If you need help, please get it. I am not a therapist, but suicide is no solution, and there is always a better way.
His final action devastated his family and angered his friends. That heartbreak will last forever.
Don’t repeat that mistake. Find the good in 2022, and let’s hope 2023 will be better.