CDC Retracts Farmer Suicide Rate Findings

Brian German Industry News Release

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a week ago confirmed its widely cited research on farmer suicides was wrong. The research from 2016 reported that farmers have the highest suicide rate in the country. That report found that workers in the “farming, fishing, and forestry,” job category held a suicide rate over four times the national average, far and away the highest in the study. But, the CDC told New Food Economy in an email it had misclassified farmers as farming, fishing, and forestry, or “Triple-F,” workers.

The revised rate for Triple-F workers is now third among occupational groups in the study, while CDC has yet to release a suicide rate for farmers. Under technical terms, farmers are considered managers, according to federal guidelines. The suicide rate among managers, in contrast, was average. Still, of those in the “Triple F” category, nearly 90 percent are agricultural workers.

 

From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.