Farm Crisis and Suicide: Dying on the Vine?

The relationship between the farm economic crisis and farmer suicide rates was examined using data from fifteen states in the United States from 1980 to 1985. Suicide frequencies for farmers and two control occupations (forestry and transportation workers) were obtained, and the 1980 U.S. Census occupational population data were used to convert these frequencies into suicide rates. Suicide rates for farmers were found to be greater than rates for transportation workers (truck drivers), but no different from rates for forestry workers. A significant positive correlation between the “declining farm economy” and “increasing state suicide rates” was also found.