Farming is a noble and essential occupation, a profoundly spiritual way of life.
Ag Behavioral Health
About Me
Dr. Rosmann is a psychologist and agriculturalist whose life’s work involves improving the behavioral healthcare of the agricultural population. He seeks to advance national and global food production policy that enhances the behavioral and economic welfare of all agricultural producers, encourages regenerative stewardship of the land and other resources used in farming, and which protects the producers and consumers of food everywhere. In an era of increasing tension due to terrorists and shifts in the agribusiness climate, he is a voice for the agricultural population. The New York Times said this about him: “A fourth generation farmer as well as a clinical psychologist, he speaks the language of men and women on the verge of losing their place on the land.”
Rosmann has been instrumental in developing a new specialty: agricultural behavioral health. With the assistance of other concerned persons, he founded and directed AgriWellness, Inc., a seven-state organization which conducted research about best practices to assist the agricultural population with their behavioral health problems and provided culturally suited services for twenty-four years. Their efforts culminated in the creation of a national Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network which the US Congress has included in the USDA budget. The program directs funding to four regional Centers that assist state and local entities to provide farm crisis assistance and referral for behavioral health services by professionals licensed in a mental healthcare discipline, trains counselors, students, Extension and other USDA employees in agricultural behavioral health, conducts community education programs, and carries out additional research and program evaluation.
BIOGRAPHY
Michael Rosmann is a farmer and psychologist who resides at Pella, Iowa since 2023. He obtained a BA in psychology from the University of Colorado and MS and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Utah. He served on the faculty of the University of Virginia until resigning, and his behavioral health nursing academician wife likewise, to raise their children on an Iowa family farm, just as the Farm Crisis of the 1980s was beginning. His formative work includes developing the first mental health response to the Farm Crisis, operating an organic farm near Harlan, Iowa, and establishing a consultation practice with many agricultural producers, farm organizations, and government agencies. He was invited to join the staff of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa, and later as an Adjunct Professor. His life’s work has contributed to the understanding of why people farm, their unique behavioral health issues, and why suicide is unusually common among farmers.
Dr. Rosmann wrote a syndicated column, “Farm and Ranch Life,” for many farm and rural publications that had 4.2 million regular readers for twelve years. His book, Excellent Joy: Fishing, Farming, Hunting and Psychology, received the Silver Award in Nature from Foreword Reviews in 2012. He has contributed on multiple occasions to programs on NPR, PBS, BBC, national television news networks, and radio and television programs, such as Matter of Fact, and to such publications as The New York Times, Forbes, Newsweek, The Guardian, Time Magazine, Bovine Veterinarian, Hoards Dairyman, Dairy Herd Management, Successful Farming, Farm Journal, Progressive Farmer, and many other farm magazines. He is a popular speaker in the US and around the world. His newest book, Meditations on Farming: The Agrarian Drive, Stress, and Mental Health,” was published by Purdue University Press in November 2024.
Noteworthy publications by Dr. Rosmann include:
Rosmann, M.R. and Delworth, U. (1990). Clinical and community perspectives on the farm crisis, The Clinical Psychologist, 10(1), 1-4.
Rosmann, M.R. (2008). Behavioral healthcare of the agricultural population: A brief history, Journal of Rural Mental Health, 32(1) 39-48.
Rosmann, M.R. (2010). The Agrarian Imperative. Journal of Agromedicine, 15(2), 71-75.
Rosmann, M.R. (2010). Cattleman. In T. Zink (Ed.), The Country Doctor Revisited. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, Pp. 119-122.
Rosmann, M.R. (2011). Excellent Joy: Fishing, Farming, Hunting and Psychology. North Liberty, IA: Ice Cube Press.
Rosmann, M.R., as told to Emily Atkin (April 22, 2019). I work with suicidal farmers: It’s becoming too much to bear. The New Republic, available at: https://newrepublic.com /article/153604/work-suicidal-farmers-its-becoming-much-bear.
Rosmann, M.R. (2024) Meditations on Farming: The Agrarian Drive, Stress, and Mental Health. West Lafayette, In: Purdue University Press.
"Sacrifices lead to self-fulfillment and dignity, not personal accomplishments and holding ourselves as most important."
Photo by Deni Chamberlin
