Senator Tammy Baldwin has announced a new bill aimed at helping farmers and rural communities receive mental health care.
The Farmers First Act of 2025 was crafted by the Wisconsin Senator alongside Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa as a way to increase support for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN), which Senators Baldwin and Senator Ernst successfully included in the 2018 Farm Bill.
The Farmers First Act would increase funding for the program, authorizing $15 million per year for the program for the next five years, $5 million more than currently allotted.
The Senators are introducing the bill as suicide, mental health challenges, and stress are on the rise in agricultural and rural communities.
Farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population, according to the National Rural Health Association.
Sen. Baldwin said of the measure, “Wisconsin’s farmers and ranchers work hard every day to keep their businesses running…“I’m working to make sure our farmers and rural communities have the resources they need because no one should have to fight these battles alone.”
The Farmers First Act of 2025 is co-sponsored in the Senate by Republican Senators John Boozman of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Tina Smith of Minnesota.
The bill was also introduced in the U.S. House by Republican Representative Randy Feenstra of Iowa and Democrat Angie Craig of Minnesota.
