Farmer Patrick McCormick of Robbiehill Family Dairy says the suicide crisis on farms has hit upstate New York the hardest and placed a dark cloud, especially on Wyoming County.

"I know farmers not too far from here. Two of them this past year that have committed suicide," said McCormick.

McCormick says uncertainty in crop yields and the declining price of milk contribute to farm stress.

"So we're getting $3 less for our product than we were 10 years ago," added McCormick.

Sen. Chuck Schumer launched a new effort to fight the mental health crisis on farms throughout upstate New York.

First, he is calling on the Centers for Disease Control to study suicide rates on farms. Wyoming County has the eighth highest suicide rate in New York.

Between 2015 and 2017, the New York state Department of Health reported 22 suicides in Wyoming County.

According to Schumer, studies show that farmers and ranchers have a suicide rate that is three and a half times that of the general population.

"Once we have data we can know what are the symbols, what happens and how can we prevent it," said Schumer.

The senator is also recommending that Congress pass the Seeding Rural Resilience Act. Some of its initiatives include voluntary stress management, a public service announcement on farm stress, and a task force by the secretary of agriculture to determine the cause of the crisis.

"Our food is much cheaper than in other places because of our farms and if our farms are not healthy, we're all not going to be healthy," he added.

As a result of increased suicides, the Wyoming County Health Department partnered with Cornell Cooperative Farm Net to hold mental health first aid training. Kate Downes is in charge of outreach and the Farm Net hotline.

Many of those calls she says are now being screened for risk of suicide.

"It's a matter of, so many things in agriculture and farming are beyond one farmer’s control: stress, weather, working with family is hard, government regulations is hard and all those little things add up. It’s never just one thing," said Downes.