# Plain Language Summary: Farmers First Act of 2023

This bill extends and expands a federal program that helps farmers and ranchers deal with stress, mental health challenges, and substance abuse issues. The program, called the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, provides counseling and support services to people in agriculture who are struggling—whether from financial pressures, health crises, or other farming-related hardships. The bill keeps this program running and makes it stronger by giving it more money and broader resources.

The main changes are straightforward. First, the bill increases funding for the program from $10 million per year to $15 million per year, extending it through 2028. This extra money allows the program to help more farmers and reach more rural areas. Second, the bill specifically adds crisis lines to the services the program can offer, recognizing that farmers sometimes need immediate help during emergencies. Third, the bill expands the types of health providers that can work with the program—including mental health clinics, rural health centers, and hospitals—so farmers have better access to actual treatment and counseling services, not just referrals.

For farmers and ranchers, this means better access to mental health support and crisis intervention when they need it most. For rural communities, it means more resources flowing to local health providers who can help. The bill essentially says that the government recognizes farming is stressful work, and it's worth investing in the mental health and wellbeing of the people who feed the country.

Farmers First Act of 2023

Feenstra, Randy

Farmers First Act of 2023 This bill extends through FY2028 and revises the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN). This Department of Agriculture program provides competitive grants to states, Indian tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations to provide stress assistance programs (i.e., professional agricultural behavioral health counseling, helplines, and resources) to individuals engaged in farming, ranching, and agriculture-related occupations. The bill specifies that the grant funding for farm telephone helplines and websites may also be used for crisis lines. Further, FRSAN grant recipients may establish referral relationships with providers, including Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, health centers, rural health clinics, and critical access hospitals.