Farm support programs foster a culture of collaboration across NYS

The call Amber Russell took the day before we spoke explains most of what you need to know about farmer support in New York.

A couple wanted to change the operating agreement on their LLC and possibly buy out another member. Russell is Statewide Director of the New York State Agricultural Mediation Program (NYSAMP), and this issue fits perfectly within the program’s scope of services. But the couple didn’t have a solid understanding of their own finances, and NYSAMP doesn’t do financial consulting. The other member had also been a friend and neighbor for 30 years.

“There’s this whole relational, emotional piece that needs to be addressed, but maybe not in the mediation room,” Russell said.

After addressing the mediation piece, Russell asked whether they had talked to NY FarmNet, and whether they would want to work with a peer who had been through something similar, which is exactly what Farmers Supporting Farmers does.

Through this one simple phone call, the couple gained access to three organizations that could assist with different aspects of a complex problem.

“The satisfaction is hanging up that phone feeling like, okay, there’s some hope here,” Russell said.

Russell, Greg Mruk of NY FarmNet and Katie Basu of Farmers Supporting Farmers run three separate organizations focused on three different angles of farmer support. In most industries they would be competitors. In NYS, they’ve decided to work together.

Farmer Support & Assistance Takes a Village

Mruk has taken enough calls to know that by the time a farmer picks up the phone, it is rarely one problem.

“Often, we are called when challenges have been building for some time and several issues are unfolding simultaneously,” Mruk said. “By then, the situation can feel overwhelming, resources may appear limited and farmers may feel as though they have exhausted their options or cannot see a viable path forward. Our role is to help them assess the situation, identify opportunities and work toward practical solutions.”

Cash flow problems are intermingled with family conflict. Falling milk prices can land the same month a spouse gets a cancer diagnosis. The public assumes most farm problems are simple, transactional and solely related to the business.

“It is literally peeling back an onion,” Mruk said. “Each step in the process, you’re learning something new, which changes what you’re understanding.”

Russell sees the same thing: “Farmers don’t experience challenges in neat categories. Issues tend to be interconnected.”

Basu put it in plain terms. “Many of the challenges that farmers are facing, they’re not purely business and they’re not purely personal,” she said. “They’re oftentimes both. The well-being of the farm, the family and the individual who’s calling us are really deeply connected.”

New York lost 2,788 farms and nearly 364,000 acres of farmland between the 2017 and 2022 Censuses of Agriculture, roughly a 9% drop and the steepest decline in three decades. Dairy absorbed most of the losses. USDA’s Economic Research Service forecasts farm sector debt climbing 5.2% to $624.7 billion in 2026 while working capital falls 9.2%, and 2026 NY milk prices are running roughly $2.50 to $3 per cwt. below last year.

The human cost and the financial strain cannot be separated. CDC figures for 2021 put the suicide rate among men working in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting at 47.9 per 100,000, against 32.0 for working men across all industries. American Farm Bureau Federation polling found 91% of farmers and farmworkers said financial issues affect farmer mental health, and nearly half said finding a counselor in their own community is difficult. The average American producer is 58.1 years old, and only 61% of farms reported any estate or succession planning in 2022, down from 65% in 2017.

Four out of 10 farms are walking into a generational transition or retirement with nothing written down. Addressing problems of this magnitude is out of reach for any one organization, no matter how well funded, staffed or experienced.

An Ecosystem of Support

NY FarmNet started at Cornell in 1986 in the middle of a farm crisis. There was no internet, so FarmNet mailed a postcard to every farmer in the state with a toll-free number on it; 1,200 farmers called that first year. Every farmer who calls gets a financial consultant and a family consultant – free, confidential and usually visiting in person – on the farm.

NYSAMP launched in 2001 and is funded by USDA in partnership with the NYS Unified Court System. Mediators trained to state court standards work with farm families in every county. More than 8,000 people have gone through the program.

Farmers Supporting Farmers started in November 2025. It is a program of AIM Independent Living Center, funded by the NYS Office of Mental Health, and built on peer support. As the name suggests, the model pairs farmers who call for support with peers who are also active in agriculture. Basu’s team offers help remotely or, when the situation calls for it, drives out to the farm.

Farmers Come First

Ask Mruk why they work together and he starts with a practical observation: the challenges facing today’s farm families are often too complex for any one organization to address alone. Collaboration allows each partner to contribute its strengths, creating a more effective and seamless network of support for farmers across NYS.

“Too many organizations get caught up in their own silos and they view it as a competitive world rather than a collaborative world. I understand that from a business perspective. But in the nonprofit world, in a service-oriented role, creating a silo and becoming competitive turns the mission from ‘it’s about them’ to ‘it’s about us.’ And it shouldn’t be about us. It should be about them.”

Russell sees the landscape similarly, with farmers coming first no matter what.

“Some organizations can worry about who gets the referral, who owns the relationship or who provides the service. I think that’s the wrong approach,” she said. “When someone reaches out to us and another organization is better positioned to help, or can provide support alongside us, it’s our responsibility to make that connection. When we navigate the system together, farmers don’t have to.”

NYSAMP evaluates need continuously so the farmer is always getting what is needed when they need it. “Our goal is never to keep a case,” Russell said. “Our goal is always to connect farmers with the best resources available so they can find relief, resolution and a path forward.”

The Benefits to the Farmers Themselves

The obvious advantage is the warm handoff, but there is also an added benefit that the organizations themselves gain. The groups learn from and support each other as much as they help farmers.

“Most people fear the unknown,” Mruk said. “But if there’s someone there that says ‘I’ve done this before, this is what the steps are,’ it reduces the anxiety in doing what needs to be done.”

Basu described the collaboration as a reduction of barriers for providers, not just for farmers. “Next time when someone calls, I know exactly who I need to speak with, because we just had this experience.” That matters when many incoming calls are already at the crisis point. The house is on fire, and they need help now, not after three referrals and a two-week wait.

Time is always a constraint for farmers, and Basu knows why. “It’s not like you can just take a day off and go, ‘How hard is it to just go see a doctor or go talk to someone?’”

FarmNet sees the same reality when it comes to farm business management or financial challenges. Succession work regularly turns into dissolving partnerships, with parents and children unpacking family issues that have been festering for decades or even generations. “Sometimes it’s cordial, but other times it’s very contentious,” Mruk said, “and that’s usually when we get that call.”

For Russell, purpose is at the heart of everything they do. “One thing I love about agriculture is that farmers are problem-solvers. Our job isn’t to take over their problems. Our job is to help remove barriers so they can solve them. Sometimes that’s mediation. Sometimes it’s connecting people to FarmNet or Farmers Supporting Farmers. Sometimes it’s all of us working together.”

Her definition of success comes from that core understanding of the culture behind farming. “Success isn’t measured by whether someone uses our service. Success is measured by whether they get what they need.”

New York is Building Something Worth Copying

Ask Russell whether NYS leads the country on farmer support and she doesn’t hesitate.

“Absolutely. Not because any one organization is exceptional, but because New York is building a culture of collaboration. The fact that FarmNet, Farmers Supporting Farmers and NYSAMP can sit together and optimize ways to openly refer people to one another says a lot about how farmer support works in this state. We understand that helping farmers isn’t about protecting turf. It is always about making sure people get help.”

That is the message all three directors want farmers to hear.

“What’s best for farmers is bigger than any one organization,” Russell said. “We each have different areas of expertise, but we share the same commitment to New York’s farm families. We want people to know they don’t have to figure out which door to knock on. If they connect with one of us, they’ve essentially connected with all of us.

“That’s really powerful,” she said, “and pretty rare, quite frankly.”

The challenges facing American agriculture are not going to fade any time soon, and no one program is going to meet them alone. Maybe the most useful thing these three organizations offer is the example itself. Build the habit of picking up the phone for each other, and a farmer in trouble stops having to guess where they should go for the help they need.

• NY FarmNet: 1.800.547.3276 and nyfarmnet.org
• NYSAMP: nysamp.com
• Farmers Supporting Farmers: 1.888.328.7847 and aimcil.com

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988.

by Adam C. Howell, NY FarmNet