Signs of stress in the farm economy are everywhere you turn, and with corn futures hitting fresh lows again this week, crumbling commodity prices are painting a dreary outlook for 2025, and the financial pressures are causing another bleak reality: farmer suicides are also on the rise.
In 2024, used equipment prices were plummeting at auction, with values of larger horsepower tractors dropping more than 20%. As used equipment flooded the auction market, Alex Kerr, owner of Kerr Auction and Kerr Equipment, noticed another troubling trend.
“This is really odd for me,” Kerr said in a video he posted to social media last year. “Three tractors up here that I bought on auction, and I’m not going to tell you which ones, but they came off of suicide — the reason is that the farmers are no longer here. It’s the reason I’ve got the tractors.”
Kerr noticed the silent truth happening in the midst of the current downturn in the farm economy, which was the fact he was seeing an uptick in the amount of equipment coming to auction as a result of farmer suicide.
“If anybody needs to talk, call your friends, call us. We don’t need to sell you anything. I don’t want to buy more tractors this way,” Kerr went on to say in the video.
Kerr says he typically doesn’t know all the stories behind the tractors he sells, especially if it’s a consignment auction. As an auction company and used equipment dealer, his focus is on the numbers. But at this particular auction, he was compelled to do something.
“I noticed at one point after I had bought some stuff, and I had it all sitting on my lot together advertised for sale. I’m lining this stuff up, and it just kind of hit me. I’m like, ‘What happened to these guys to get them to a point they wanted to do that rather than continue on?’ I’m lining up those tractors, and I thought about it for a while and turned around and made the video,” Kerr says.
While there aren’t any stats on the exact number of farmer suicides happening across the U.S., according to a CDC study published in January 2020, farmers are among the most likely to die by suicide, in comparison to other occupations. And with 259 farm bankruptcies filed between April 2024 and March 2025, it’s clear the financial stress on farms is only growing more severe this year.
“In most cases, if it’s a financial problem, the stereotypical answer people will tell you is, ‘Oh, keep your head up. It’ll get better.’ Well, if its a financial thing, the odds are it’s not going to get better. If you just keep digging the same hole, it only gets worse. So, you need to stop and make changes in your life or your business,” Kerr says.
Kerr’s video ultimately reached Bridgette Readel, a retired agronomist who is bringing more awareness to mental health among farmers through her social media following on X (formerly Twitter).
“To be honest, I got Alex’s video sent to me by a mutual friend — a farmer from Wisconsin. Alex had listened to one of the Twitter chats that I do on Fridays and heard the discussion which had been about farmer suicide, depression and anxiety,” Readel says. “Alex never wanted to step in front of the limelight, but he could see a trend, particularly in the geography where he works. And he wanted to do something just to raise a little bit of awareness.”
She says Kerr’s video struck a chord because not only was it bringing awareness to a topic not often discussed, but other farmers could relate to it.
“So many folks could recognize themselves in it: ‘That’s my same tractor’ or ‘I have thought about these very same thoughts or problems. How do I get away from them?’” Readel says. “For those who are closer to my age and remember what the ‘80s were like, there were a lot of farm ‘accidents’ that weren’t accidents. And now it’s a fear of what if myself, my neighbor, my brother, my sister or someone else is that next person?”
Agriculture is full of doers. If farmers see a problem, they immediately want to fix it. But when it comes to mental health, it’s not an easy fix — and not one that can be resolved on your own.
That’s why Readel says there’s one main message farmers need to hear right now: it’s okay to not be okay, but you have to ask for help.
“My message to farmers is to remember that you’re not alone, and when you see something with one of your friends or neighbors, ask them. Don’t be afraid. You don’t have to be a professional at it. You can help them find a professional, but sometimes it’s as simple as sitting in the buddy seat and asking how they’re doing. They might not answer you the first time, so ask it the second time,” she says.
As AgWeb reported in 2024, it’s important the friends, family, and business professionals close to farmers are prepared and able to effectively communicate in a mental health crisis. You can read more in this story, Your Mental Health Toolbox: How To Recognize The Warning Signs.
In the U.S., you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor.
