Quiet Epidemic of Suicide Claims France’s Farmers

The New York Times ^ | 20 Aug 2017 | Paméla Rougerie

[Theoria]

A dairy farmer, Jean-Pierre Le Guelvout, once kept 66 cows at a thriving estate in southern Brittany. But falling milk prices, accumulating debts, depression and worries about his heath in middle age became too much to bear.

Just 46, Mr. Le Guelvout shot himself in the heart in a grove behind his house one cold December day last year. “It was a place that he loved, near the fields that he loved,” explained his sister Marie, who said she was “very close” to him but did not see his suicide coming.

The death of Ms. Le Guelvout’s brother was part of a quiet epidemic of suicide among French farmers with which stoical rural families, the authorities, public health officials and researchers are trying to grapple.

Farmers are particularly at risk, they all say, because of the nature of their work, which can be isolating, financially precarious and physically demanding.

For farmers who do not have children to help with the work and eventually take over, the burden is that much greater. Falling prices for milk and meat have also added to debts and stress in recent years.

Researchers and farming organizations agree that the problem has persisted for years, but while they have stepped up efforts to help farmers, the effectiveness of such measures and the toll from suicides remain difficult to quantify.

The most recent statistics, made public in 2016 by France’s public health institute, show that 985 farmers killed themselves from 2007 to 2011 — a suicide rate 22 percent higher than that of the general population.

Even that number of suicides, which increased over time, may be underestimated, say researchers, who add that they fear the problem is not going away, though they are still analyzing more recent data.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Allocators never do as well as a market can...

[tired&retired]

Agreed. Free Market vs Central Control is a no brainer, as long as free market does not generate “too big to fail” businesses.

[tired&retired]

Technology has really helped as production per cow is up about 25% in the past few years.

In addition, using sorted seman results in all heifer calves and no bull calves making it easier to expand the herd faster.

[9YearLurker]

Yet, there is not a shortage of milk and some clearly can operate providing it.

It is tough but not surprising that small, family-owned operations are struggling the more that technology is applied. Has happened in about every other industry.

It is going to take more people valuing a safe, local food supply to make more than just the high-end, boutique, organic-type farms able to survive locally.