Help’s available for farmers who need mental health counseling

Posted on May 11, 2022
State Rep. Tim Butler was at a news conference outside the Illinois Department of Agriculture headquarters on the state fairgrounds in Springfield to help announce a state-funded help line for farmers who want to get mental health help. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Arguably, few jobs are more stressful than farming, and the current wet conditions don’t help.

“People in agriculture are independent. They don’t like asking for help. They think they can do things on their own,” said State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield). “They need support, they need help, just like the rest of us do.”

Butler was at a news conference outside the Illinois Department of Agriculture headquarters on the state fairgrounds in Springfield to help announce a state-funded help line for farmers who want to get mental health help.

Telehealth is part of this.

“This year, because of the ($500,000 state) funding we received, the call center folks are going to offer the opportunity to do six counseling sessions … at no charge,” said Karen Stallman, ag resource specialist at the Center for Rural Health at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

1-833-FARM-SOS

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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