In The NoCo

Why a program that helped farmers and ranchers avoid mental health crises is on hold

By In The NoCo,

Published May 12, 2025 at 5:35 AM MDT

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A man on a brown horse facing away from the camera wears a white shirt, a black vest, blue jeans, a white cowboy hat and a red bandana as he directs cattle toward a pen. — "Farmers and ranchers carry these really high levels of stress because of the instabilities they face," says Colorado Sun reporter Tracy Ross, who wrote about funding cuts for a program that provides mental health support for agriculture producers. "When things go wrong, there's this compounding effect that really leads to some serious mental health issues in some of them."

For the past seven years, if you were a Colorado farmer who was struggling and felt overwhelmed, you had a place to turn for help.

The AgWell program offered mental health support to farmers and ranchers in several Western states. It gave them stress management tools and support from their peers. That’s important because farmers statistically struggle with isolation and die by suicide at rates twice as high as the general population.

But those services are on hold now. Amid other spending cuts ordered by the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture in April froze $10 million in funding for support programs like AgWell.

Colorado Sun reporter Tracy Ross recently wrote about the program. She spoke with Erin O’Toole about the abrupt loss of its funding.

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In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC’s new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS Newshour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

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