One Son’s Mission to Help Farmers Facing Mental Health Challenges

Article November 11, 2026

Jacob Walter was starting his sophomore year of college when he learned that his father had died by suicide in 2016.

He knew firsthand the pressure ranchers like his father face: From unpredictable weather to market conditions and government policies, farmers’ and ranchers’ livelihoods often depend on factors beyond their control. Still, his father’s death came as a shock.

Research shows that farmers and ranchers die by suicide at rates two to five times higher than the general population. Now, Jacob is determined to change that.

Here is his story.

A nearly empty rural highway runs toward the horizon, lined with utility poles, beneath towering dark storm clouds illuminated by an orange and pink sunset.

Dusk descends over Highway 50, which traverses the open plains of the Arkansas River Valley in southeastern Colorado. Here, agriculture has been shaping the area’s identity for generations, and along with it, livelihoods that are often demanding, precarious, and remote.

Brick city hall and fire department buildings along a quiet street, illuminated by late-day sunlight beneath a cloudy sky.

Highway 50 also runs through Fowler. The town of 1,200 serves as a meeting place for people who work on farms and ranches. Research shows that farmers are among groups of people at greater risk of suicide.

A person in a light blue polo shirt sits at a table with hands clasped, looking to the side, with papers on the table and a framed picture on the wall behind.

A small building with a light glowing from its doorway stands amid trees and brush beneath a dark, cloud-filled evening sky.

Jacob knew that his father was experiencing stress and mental health challenges, but his father’s suicide 10 years ago still stunned him. As he prepared to head back to college in Fort Collins, his dad had told him he loved him. “And he told me that things are never too bad that you can’t get out,” Jacob says. “That didn’t really resonate, but that’s the last thing my dad ever said to me.”

A person’s hand holds a printed photograph showing an adult carrying a young child outdoors beside a fenced livestock enclosure.

Jacob holds a photo of his dad, Rusty, who was 45 years old when he died. Jacob says his father was under a lot of stress managing the ranch, a profession that offers no separation between work life and family life.

Black-and-white photo of a person wearing a baseball cap standing among tall grasses and plants, with the vegetation in the foreground in sharper focus.

Losing his father to suicide prompted Jacob to help others manage the pressures that farming life can bring. He now works with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, part of the National Farmers Union, traveling thousands of miles a year across Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming to help farmers and ranchers learn to cope with mental health challenges.

A large herd of black cattle gathers along a feeding trough in a fenced pasture, while a person stands at the far end of the enclosure.

Livestock accounts for 66% of the value of agricultural products sold in Otero County, Colorado, where Fowler is located. It’s the county’s dominant agricultural commodity, and their upkeep requires round-the-clock care. “Cows don’t know when you lose somebody,” Jacob said. “We were grieving but we still had a ranch to run. We ended up having to sell it.”

A shallow body of water bordered by a wide, exposed sandy shoreline, with scattered logs and vegetation in the foreground and flat farmland in the distance.

A lack of rain translates directly into a loss of money for those who rely on land for their livelihoods. Along with wildfires, droughts in Colorado this past summer have affected land, water supplies, crops, and livestock, causing “financial and emotional strain” for farmers and ranchers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in September 2026.

Five adults gather around a table in a community meeting space, with framed photos, posters, and decorative signs on the walls.

Jacob (left) takes part in The Coffee Break Project in Rocky Ford, Colorado. Early morning gatherings offer locals who work the land—and may very well spend their entire day alone on a tractor or driving a pickup truck—coffee, doughnuts, and a chance to connect with others.

A large framed photograph of a colorful sunset over a shrub-covered landscape and distant sand dunes hangs on a wall, with a person in a baseball cap out of focus in the foreground.

Efforts such as The Coffee Break Project encourage farmers and ranchers to bring their struggles out into the open. “They may be in communities where talking about mental health challenges or suicidal thoughts or behaviors may still be stigmatized,” says Kristen Mizzi Angelone, director of the suicide risk reduction project at The Pew Charitable Trusts. “We’ve heard stories from these farming communities where something bad happens and suddenly people are losing the farm that’s been in their family for five generations.”

Stacks of The Coffee Break Project flyers on a wooden table advertise free coffee and doughnuts and ask, “Do you look after your neighbors as close as your crop or herd?” A Spanish-language version lies beside them.

Flyers for The Coffee Break Project call attention to the well-being of community members. “It’s difficult for famers to talk about stress,” says Zippy Duvall, a farmer and president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. “We are viewed as very tough individuals who can take on anything that nature can throw at them.”

The American Farm Bureau started a program in 2017 to help farmers address their struggles, specifically the ones that may not be apparent on the surface. “Mental problems aren’t the same,” says Duvall. “When individuals go through a difficult time and make a permanent decision to a short-term problem, it causes ripples in their family and their community.”

The silhouette of a person appears through a textured green curtain.

A hand cradles a red tomato still attached to the vine, surrounded by dense green leaves.

Jacob (left) knows it’s important that he takes care of his own mental health, too, and says his work, community, and friendships help. “Service to others and the relationships I have with those around me give me energy,” he says. With a nod to his farming roots, he cultivates fresh vegetables at his home (right). “Growing food is part of an identity for people in agriculture. And, for me, it is a way to stay connected and keep that identity as I find my way back into farming on a larger scale after losing my dad and having to sell the ranch.”

Black-and-white view of a rainbow arching across a dark, stormy sky above a flat rural landscape, with rain visible in the distance and utility poles along the horizon.

The challenges that can come with living in a remote and rural area can signal the need to support those experiencing mental health issues. Preventing suicide starts with identifying people at risk and helping them to access services, something that is front and center in Jacob’s daily work.

“Being able to make a little bit of meaning out of the tragic loss of my dad has been very healing,” he says. “If we can save one family from experiencing what we did, then all of this is worth it.”