Shedding light on mental health

LOGANVILLE, Wis. – Randy Roecker and Brenda Statz have experienced and witnessed depression first hand. Now, the friends are using their personal experiences to help others.
“We want to be there for farmers,” Roecker said. “You have to be there for each other to listen.”
Together, the friends, along with a therapist and members of a local church, organized a luncheon in January 2019 designed for farmers to attend and simply talk with one another. They hoped a few people would attend and were blown away when more than 40 came. They held one meeting a month for three months and people kept returning.
Since those first meetings, the group’s efforts have grown into the creation of the Farmer Angel Network, a support group whose mission is to make resources for farmers more available and transparent.
The group now includes farmers, agriculture professionals, University of Wisconsin Extension educators and local public health resources, among others.
For Brenda Statz, after years of battling with depression, the effort could not be more personal. Statz is a former dairy farmer who lost her husband, Leon, to suicide in 2018.
Statz is trying to help others become comfortable talking about mental health so they may get the help they need.
“We’re just a group of people who are like-minded and want to make a difference,” Statz said. “We need to bring the visibility (to) resources and what they are so we can access them because I didn’t know where stuff was when we needed it.”
Roecker milks 250 cows near Loganville. When Roecker modernized his dairy operation by building a new facility in 2006, he was optimistic about his future. When the milk price dropped to $9 just months after shipping milk out of his new facility, the optimism dwindled along with his milk check. What followed was a battle with depression that lasted years and almost claimed Roecker’s life.
“I didn’t have anywhere to turn, and I was just a mess,” Roecker said. “I was to the point where I’d get in the truck and I’d drive out to the back 40 and I’d just cry because I didn’t know what to do any more. I was just spiraling out of control.”
Roecker tried to seek medical help and found himself shuffled through the system without achieving any real relief. Throughout the course of two years, he tried several medications and had many hospital stays.
“I had no luck with medication at all,” Roecker said. “I finally hit my bottom when I actually visualized my own funeral. They say everybody has to hit a bottom so there’s no way to go but up. That was the bottom for me.”
Roecker ceased all medication and did his best to operate his dairy farm and move on. He realized how fragile a state he was in when Statz lost her husband to suicide. Leon’s death took Roecker right back to the dark mental place he had been trying to avoid for years.
There were similarities in Roecker’s and Leon’s struggle with depression. Leon was hospitalized four times throughout his battle with depression and even received the same type of therapy Roecker did.
It was then that Roecker realized he was not alone in his battle with depression and decided it was time to do something to shed light on the mental health struggles that were affecting his neighbors and friends. He asked Statz and other members of his church to help him take action.
Statz agreed to help.
“We witnessed all this, we went through all this, and I’m sure there are people out there who are struggling just like we did, trying to find help,” Statz said.   
In addition to providing a place to talk and connect, the group also coordinates fun events for farm families to attend as a way to take a break from the farm. he group also coordinates fun events for farm families to attend as a way to take a break from the farm.
“We don’t want everything to be doom and gloom,” Statz said. “When you lose your joy in what you do, it’s really hard to get it back.”
The group has hosted ice cream socials, movie nights and, most recently, a pizza night where families gathered at a farm in Loganville and everyone brought frozen pizzas to cook. It was a chance to connect with other local farmers and get off their own farms for a change of scenery and camaraderie.
Most of all, Statz wants to stop the stigma associated with mental health struggles.
“When Leon was struggling, I always said if you broke your arm, you’d have a story to tell about how it happened,” Statz said. “But if you’re struggling mentally, nobody wants to talk about it.”
Roecker agreed.
“That’s what we’re doing now is encouraging people just to talk about it,” Roecker said. “There was just a stigma associated with mental health and depression and suicide. But, it’s something that has to be talked about to bring it out of the darkness.”