Faith-based community supports farm industry

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A farmer’s life has been compared to a person’s faith journey, and that faith is being tested through the recent economic uncertainty associated with high costs and low profits in agriculture.

Jason Franklin, pastor of Clarksdale Methodist Church, told the hundreds of agriculture professionals at Mississippi State University’s recent Row Crop Short Course that the faith community needs to come alongside this hardworking group who are navigating significant pressures.

“The church hasn’t done a really good job of showing up in crisis,” Franklin said. “We say, ‘You are in my thoughts and prayers.’”

He was in his office one day when he said God spoke to him clearly stating he could offer those words, but for a family that just lost everything they worked for generations to have, those well wishes don’t mean a thing.

“A thought and a prayer is good, but boots on the ground is even better,” he said.

Although from Mississippi, Franklin knew basically nothing about agriculture when he became pastor of the church in Clarksdale two years ago. As he got to know his congregation and the people in his community, he realized that his new town, like many in the Delta, have no backup industry if agriculture fails.

One of the first conversations Franklin had was with a farmer and his wife who said they were preparing to file bankruptcy and would lose all they had worked for all their lives.

“It was heartbreaking, but not knowing the farming crisis we were in, I ministered to them and thought they were a one-off story.

“After that conversation in 2024, I began to have conversations like that over and over and over. It made me realize that the farming community is in a crisis. That first conversation I had was not an outlier. It was the norm,” he said.

As Franklin realized the farming community is legitimately concerned about their future, he began to look for ways he individually and the faith community as a whole can support them. He asked the group gathered at MSU the questions he asked himself at that time.

“How can we take visible action to show these people who mean so much to our community of faith, our community at large, how can we show them we care?” he said.

“Here’s my perspective. If farmers fail, we all fail. Farming cannot fail,” Franklin said. “I don’t think we can depend on the government to do what only God can do for us. Only God can bring us out of this. God is there, but we need God to move in a mighty way.

“Yes, we need the government to step up and do what they can do, but I believe that farming is first and foremost a faith-based vocation,” he said.

The first thing Clarksdale Methodist Church did was hold a special service, a Blessing of the Fields, to gather farmers and their families for breakfast and to pray over them. Nearly 200 people showed up.

Next, the church printed 50 yard signs and distributed them to church members. Each participating member was asked to go to various farms in Coahoma and Tunica counties and pray over a field and the farmer who worked it, then leave a sign. The words printed on the signs were “This field has been prayed over by Clarksdale Methodist Church.”

“Those 50 signs went out the door in like five minutes,” he said. “The next week, we had 75 more signs made, and the week after that, 50 more signs made.”

Farmers began to call or text to express appreciation as they encountered the signs. Franklin then began to gather phone numbers and send encouraging texts a few times a week to farmers. He now has 290 names on that list.

Additionally, members in the church set an alarm for noon every day and stop to pray for farmers.

“We want this to be a wave that sweeps across Mississippi and maybe to Washington, D.C. and beyond to let people know we love you and support you and want you to know it,” Franklin said.

Mary Nelson Robertson, health specialist with the MSU Extension Service, said Extension has a long and proud history of working with farmers and the agricultural community, a commitment that matters more than ever today.

“Faith is often what sustains our farmers through hard times,” Robertson said. “Jason Franklin’s powerful message reminds us that farmers -- the backbone of our state and nation -- deserve both practical support and spiritual encouragement.

“Now is the time for all of us to come together to encourage and stand with our farmers in this challenging season,” she said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, males in agriculture have among the highest suicide rates, at approximately 48 per 100,000 people nationally. Among the unique factors that contribute to this elevated risk are financial instability, isolation, workload, and their dependence on unpredictable factors like weather and natural disasters.

Help is available to anyone in crisis by calling or texting the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 anytime in the U.S. and Canada.

The MSU Television Center produced a short documentary with Franklin highlighting this struggle. Watch “A faith-based industry” below.