Rural Colorado’s “cowboy up” culture has led to high suicide rates. How can the state improve mental health in agriculture?

From the Colorado Sun:

Nationally, the suicide rate for people in the agriculture industry is 3.5 times higher than other professions. Farmers and ranchers are dying at higher rates than the general population in Colorado, too, in a state that has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. 

In the five years from 2018 to 2022, there were 102 suicides among people whose careers are in agriculture, forestry, fishing or hunting, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. That’s the fourth-highest rate among all occupations tracked by the department, behind construction workers, mining and oil workers, and managers of companies. 

It’s the isolation, the stress of debt and drought and crop-eating pests, and the “cowboy up” mentality that talking about feelings or asking for help is weak.