Taking Action To Address Substance Use Disorder In The Farming Community
Taking Action To Address Substance Use Disorder In The Farming Community
By American Farm Bureau Federation / National Farmers Union
Opioid Impacts On Farming Community
A survey by Morning Consult commissioned in 2017 by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and National Farmers Union (NFU) revealed disturbing trends. OUD is deeply affecting the farmer’s fields. Three-in-four farmers and farm workers (74 percent) are or have been directly impacted by illicit opioid use, either by knowing someone with SUD, having a family member with SUD, taking an illegal opioid, or dealing with addiction personally. Forty-five percent of rural adults have been directly impacted, having experienced one of the above factors. Three-in-four farmers (77 percent), as well as those who work in agriculture generally, say it would be easy for someone in their community to access opioids illegally.
These are worrisome results, not just because of their frequency, but also because of the difficulties farmers face on a regular basis. Farmers are often short-handed and find it difficult to take time off when they or a family member needs treatment. Healthcare providers and facilities are in short supply and often far away, creating multiple barriers to positive health outcomes for farmers in need of care.
The Farmer's Role in Fighting Opioid Misuse
Farmers trust farmers. Often operating in isolation, they depend on each other for help. They share the
experience of battling the elements to care for land and animals that sometimes resist their best efforts. Farmers, then, are their own best hope. Since they understand one another in ways outsiders do not and cannot, they are in a unique position to come alongside and help others in the farming community.
The American Farm Bureau Federation and National Farmers Union launched the Farm Town Strong
awareness and education campaign in 2018 based on a longstanding precedent of farmers helping
farmers. Both organizations had been looking for ways to work together to address this crisis, and
Ohio Farm Bureau had made opioids a major policy initiative prior to the campaign, lobbying the State
legislature to address opioid addiction.
State organizations responded to the national call to action from AFBF President Zippy Duvall and NFU President Roger Johnson, who worked closely with other farm organizations to help spread the word. They hosted each other at their organizations’ annual conventions and shared expert opinions in a program about the rural opioid crisis on RFD-TV. The Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Utah Farm Bureaus, as well as Utah Farmers Union, participated in USDA roundtables on the issue. In addition, State and national affiliates of Farm Bureau and Farmers Union endorsed the efforts of an anti-addiction program developed in Des Moines, Iowa, to train farmers to recognize and combat signs of addiction in their communities.
FarmTownStrong.org, a website jointly developed by AFBF and NFU, raised awareness in farm media
and farm communities. It provides farmers, ranchers, rural Americans and others with easy-to-find
resources for treatment, crisis intervention, drug disposal, and prevention. The website features links
to behavioral health treatment, buprenorphine for physicians, and treatment and MAT programs. There are also links to support services for families and children, prevention resources, and information about naloxone to prevent death from opioid overdose. The site also features a drug disposal locator tool, information on home drug disposal and the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
How The Farming Community Can Help Its Own
FarmTownStrong.org is only a first step towards tackling the scourge of addiction. The problem is much, much bigger and more complex than anything one group can handle alone, but America’s farmers and ranchers can help in their own unique ways. Farm Bureau and Farmers Union are grassroots organizations committed to serving their members’ needs and providing forums for meeting and discussing key issues of importance to farmers, like the opioid crisis. State and county affiliates are discussing the issues raised at these forums and how to effectively address them. Committees at AFBF and NFU are asking what more they can do and are encouraging members to get involved.
Justice Louis Brandeis once observed that States are “laboratories of democracy,” places where free
people can try new ideas on a small scale before suggesting they might work nationally. Farmers in rural America are working hard in the lab right now.