Fields of Stress: How Tariffs and Federal Cuts Are Taking a Toll on Farmers’ Mental Health

World Mental Health Day is coming up next month on October 10th, but we’re focusing on a group that often gets forgotten about in mental health advocacy - farmers.With the increase in tariffs on foreign goods put in place earlier this year as well as the Trump administration’s broader economic policies that are cutting grants to mental health and sustainability initiatives, farmers all across New York state are talking about how their stress has only gotten worse.Radio Catskill’s Genevieve Hartnett spoke with New York Farm Net at Cornell University as well as three farmers in Sullivan and Orange Counties about the stress they feel as food producers and small business owners, as well as the obligations they hold towards the communities they provide for and each other.This piece contains mention of suicide.