BELLEFONTE — Calls and texts to an emergency line supporting agricultural communities have plummeted in Pennsylvania since a federal grant lapsed.
The Shapiro administration is now delivering $100,000 to staff the helpline, though the nonprofit that operates it had also requested funds for promotion.
Between February 2022 and June 2024, the AgriStress Helpline — a resource developed by the nonprofit AgriSafe Network — fielded 107 calls and texts from Pennsylvania farmers and those calling on their behalf. Of those, 58 came in the first 11 months after the number launched statewide with help from a $500,000 federal grant.
The 24-hour helpline — accessible by calling 833-897-2474 or texting PA to 741-741 — operates seven days a week in 11 states. Staffed by crisis professionals trained to respond to agriculture-related issues, the number has received more than 1,600 calls and texts in the four-plus years since its launch. According to AgriSafe, the top issues are losses from disasters and a lack of money to buy essentials to operate.
Pennsylvania’s usage has gone down, according to an AgriSafe report obtained through a public records request. In the document sent to the state Department of Agriculture ahead of a January legislative hearing on farmers’ mental health, AgriSafe — which focuses on health and safety initiatives among agricultural communities — reported a 300% decrease since 2024.
The nonprofit did not provide exact usage numbers post-2024, and it declined an interview request. In the report, AgriSafe suggested the drop may be tied to reduced promotion after the grant lapsed, though the helpline has remained open statewide “in hopes that future funding streams would become available.”
“AgriSafe believes had funding and state promotional support been able to continue at the 2022 level; Pennsylvania call volume could have mirrored that of Texas,” the report said. “For comparison, Texas has 366 contacts (calls/texts) since launch in February 2022.”
Texas also has a “robust” suicide awareness and prevention program targeting agricultural communities, the report noted.
This year, AgriSafe asked Pennsylvania for $380,064 in a two-year budget request — $90,032 to operate the crisis line and $100,000 for marketing and outreach. AgriSafe said it would give the bulk of promotional dollars to groups like the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, according to email records.
It’s getting at least part of that request. Pennsylvania will allocate $100,000 from the state’s Farm Bill to support the helpline, state Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding told lawmakers earlier this year. An agency spokesperson told Spotlight PA in an email that the department is currently in the contracting process with AgriSafe, which will use the money to staff its hotline.
The budget does not directly fund promotion of the crisis helpline, but the spokesperson said Pennsylvania will work with AgriSafe to publicize the resource through social media, outreach, and events.
State Sen. Elder Vogel (R., Beaver) told Spotlight PA the early surge in AgriStress calls may reflect stress caused by supply chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the influx of grant money to promote the helpline.
Vogel, a farmer and chair of the state Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, thinks funding for the AgriStress line could be helpful but acknowledged the state’s competing needs.
“We’re still trying to work hard to get funding in the budget every year, no matter how much it is, even if it’s just a little bit,” he said. “Every little bit helps.”
Since 2023, Pennsylvania’s 988 call centers have received more than 360,000 calls, according to the state Department of Human Services. An agency spokesperson said it doesn’t track whether those are agriculture-related, but said 988 crisis staff can connect those callers to the AgriStress Helpline.
Anyone can use the 988 number for 24/7, confidential help.
In a statement to Spotlight PA, Rosie Lapowsky — a spokesperson for Gov. Josh Shapiro — noted that the governor’s $53.3 billion budget pitch earmarks $10 million to boost 988 capacity. She also cited previous state spending on county mental health programs and crisis response efforts, such as walk-in services and 988.
“However, states cannot do this alone — Congress must pass a comprehensive farm bill package to continue funding services like AgriStress that help farmers access critical mental health resources when they need it,” Lapowsky said.
During a joint legislative hearing on mental health at this year’s Farm Show, Redding highlighted the 107 calls and texts to the AgriStress Helpline. He also pointed to the federal Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network Program, which can connect those in need to resources, but needs reauthorization from Congress to continue.
“In the meantime, we’re not going to let the structure halt here in the state,” he told lawmakers on the state House and Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committees.
Lisa Wherry didn’t realize how many people in Pennsylvania used the AgriStress Helpline during its first year and commended the state for its rollout and promotion of the resource.
“We knew we needed it, and we still need it,” Wherry, president of Washington County’s Farm Bureau, told Spotlight PA. “I think we need it even more so today because of the inflation, the cost of fertilizer, the cost of our weather that affects us traditionally. We’ve had more storms this year. There’s just a lot of barriers that are blocking our way to be successful farmers.”
Farmers, Wherry added, can also do a better job at checking in on each other because “we’re all dealing with the same thing.”
But simplicity could help those working in a volatile industry, she added. A shorter hotline number — like the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — could be a fix to boost usage, she said.
“I would rather have a quicker number,” Wherry said. “If they can make it easier for farmers, the three-digit number, that’s what I think would be very helpful.”
State policymakers have long discussed mental health challenges among farming communities.
Experts at the Farm Show hearing, such as Penn State’s Florence Becot, outlined how things beyond farmers’ control — weather, prices, the supply chain, and workloads — put pressure on their mental health.
“Nationally, agriculture has the fourth-highest suicide rate of any occupation, and farmers who die by suicide are less likely than the general population to have had prior treatment or warning signs, making prevention more difficult,” Becot, a rural sociologist, testified.
Research shows that farmers are often more willing than able to access support, she said. But service gaps, worker shortages, limited time, and a lack of agricultural-informed care make it difficult for those in need to get help.
To address these barriers, Becot recommended that policymakers create a counseling voucher program, hire more behavioral health specialists to work within agriculture, and offer baseline funding to a crisis hotline staffed by professionals trained to support this sector. Additionally, she said there’s a need to reduce health insurance costs, boost child care access, and create paid family and medical leave, including options for self-employed farmers.
“Above all, Pennsylvania needs a well-funded, long-term, and stable approach to farm mental health that avoids the cycle of crisis-driven expansion followed by retrenchment,” she said.