Minnesota Starts Crisis Hotline for Farmers

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By Associated Press

Story Created: Nov 27, 2009 at 12:58 PM CST

Story Updated: Nov 27, 2009 at 12:58 PM CST

Minnesota has started a hotline to help farmers feeling the financial and psychological impact the tough times.

It's in high need. The nation's largest network of crisis hotlines for agricultural workers, Iowa-based AgriWellness, has seen an 18 percent increase in calls in the last year.

Mike Rosmann, who works at AgriWellness, tells Minnesota Public
Radio that many calls are from dairy producers in Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota and parts of Iowa. They've seen their
operations crippled by plunging milk prices and many could shut
down.

Crisis hotlines have seen calls increase since last fall, when pork and dairy prices began to collapse.

Minnesota launched this month a Farmer Assistance Network, which
includes confidential crisis counseling. It's modeled after the
Farm Advocate Program that began during the farm crisis of the
1980s.

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