10/15/99

Contacts:
Fred Lorenz, Rural Sociology, (515) 294-8314 or 294-8196
Rand Conger, Rural Sociology, (515) 294-4518
Barbara McManus, Agriculture Information, (515) 294-0707

STUDY OF FAMILIES IN '80s FARM CRISIS OFFERS HOPE FOR FARMERS TODAY

AMES -- Farmers who lost their livelihoods during the 1980s are showing signs of both emotional and financial recovery in the 1990s. Fred Lorenz, an Iowa State University rural sociologist, helped coordinate a study in which researchers measured the financial and emotional health of rural families between 1989 and 1992.

The results may send a hopeful message to farmers facing similar problems today. Lorenz said the study indicated resiliency and a pattern of recovery. "Immediately after farm families were displaced they experienced a high number of stressful life events and depression," Lorenz said. "Five years later their incomes had increased and stress and depression had decreased."

The 1980s farm crisis represents one of the most significant sociological events in rural history since the Great Depression, Lorenz said. To study the effects of the crisis, sociologists interviewed 451 families between 1989 and 1992 in an eight-county area in central Iowa.

The central Iowa region is a prosperous farming area that was hit hard by the 1980s farm crisis, but not all farmers were hurt. Farmers expanding operations and carrying large debts were hurt by a credit crunch when land prices dropped. Lorenz said the financial differences in the area provided research data from both ends of an economic continuum.

"We had extremes," Lorenz said. "We had people who were doing really well and people who were really suffering."

Researchers talked to families who were in the midst of losing their farms and those who had lost their farms early in the 1980s. "Some of the farmers had been away from farming longer than others," Lorenz said. "Some were displaced in the early 1980s, which meant some were further along the road to recovery."

The families studied were similar. All the families had one child in seventh grade in 1989 and a sibling within a four-year age range. The study looked at how children and families handle day-to-day problems while preoccupied with economic issues.

"Our main objective was to look at the typical family response to economic hardship," Lorenz said. "We were also interested in looking at the link between economic hardship and the quality of life in rural areas."

Immediately after losing a farm, the family experienced a readjustment time. Lorenz said during that time incomes were lower and negative events and depressive symptoms were high.

"After a major event, like losing a farm or after a divorce, the secondary negative events just skyrocket, such as kids getting into trouble," Lorenz said. "They appear to settle down and find a new equilibrium after three, four or five years."

The study provided an overview of families who were affected by the 1980s farm crisis. Lorenz said the results are averages and some farmers did not recuperate from the loss but, "on average they have recovered pretty remarkably."

Rand Conger, ISU professor of rural sociology, said farmers today might be facing some of the same emotional and financial distress farmers experienced in the 1980s. "Recovery can be aided by seeking help and using available resources. If they have to leave farming they should look for educational and job training opportunities to help them shift to another line of work," Conger said.

The research data will be published in "Rural Sociology" in December 1999. Researchers hope to return to the central Iowa area and interview respondents to gather more data for future reports.

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