Health · Mental Health · 5 hrs ago
Study finds elevated suicide rate among German farmers amid financial strain
A Bavarian study found farmers’ suicide rate is more than three times higher than that of other occupational groups in Germany.
It says one person in an agriculture-related job dies by suicide each week.
Farmers are also facing lower crop yields, falling prices and rising costs, alongside debt and worries about who will take over their farms.
One dairy farmer in Hesse says she receives about 40 cents per litre of milk, below the 45 cents she needs to cover costs, and pays staff from savings.
Across Germany, the number of farms has fallen by half since 1995, and 2,600 farms close each year.
The article says 69,000 more farms are at risk because they have no successor.
Germany’s agriculture minister has described the situation as a crisis of national importance.
A Bavarian study found that the suicide rate among farmers is more than three times that of other occupational groups.
The study says one person in an agriculture-related profession dies by suicide each week.
The report links farmers’ pressures to falling producer prices, rising energy costs, debt and worries about farm succession.
Germany’s agriculture minister described the situation as a crisis of national importance.
- Who
- Farmers and people in agriculture-related professions in Germany.
- What
- A Bavarian study found their suicide rate is more than three times that of other occupational groups, with one suicide a week.
- When
- The study was described as current in an article published on October 25, 2026.
- Where
- Germany.
- Why
- The article cites falling producer prices, rising energy costs, debt and worries about finding successors to farms.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Farmers began struggling with extreme weather swings after a summer drought.
The article says 62,000 agricultural jobs have been lost.
The fall in milk prices reached its peak, according to Hans Foldenauer.
Producer prices for German dessert apples fell 32.9 percent compared with August 2025.
Bild published its report on the study and financial pressures facing farmers.
- Suicide rate
- More than three times that of other occupational groups
- Frequency
- One suicide a week in an agriculture-related profession
- Farm numbers
- 255,000 agricultural businesses remain in Germany
- Farm closures
- 2,600 businesses close each year
- Milk price
- About 40 cents per litre; the farmer interviewed said at least 45 cents was needed
- Employment
- 62,000 agricultural jobs lost since 2020
What people are saying
Krise nationaler Tragweite
No one wants to be the person who shuts down the farm. That weighs on farmers’ souls.
We currently have a 25 to 30 percent shortfall; it is abysmal!
Organic alone is not worthwhile. Because people buy cheaper food when times are tight.