The Hoosier Farmer

In 1978, Jeffrey Adams was 20 years old and thought he could take on the world.

“I started ‘farming on the thirds’ (an arrangement where a farmer paid rent by giving one-third of their crop yield to the landowner). It didn’t matter to me if I was making any money or not, all I cared about was that I was farming,” he said. “I had a beautiful wife and we had the world by the tail… and then the bottom dropped out.”

Adams said he bought a Gleaner combine at 21% interest, which he called a common rate back then. When the time came to make a payment, the bank told him they would redo the loan and get him a better interest rate.

“I had taken the money I planned to use for the combine payment and bought replacement heifers as we were milking at the time. I went into the bank and they said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry we can’t loan you any money.’ That was the beginning of the end,” Adams said.

It took about 5-6 years for everything to materialize.

“I got to the point where I either made a bank payment or I bought groceries. We had four children at the time and it’s not rocket science, I bought groceries for my family,” he said.

After the bank foreclosed on him, Adams said the only possessions he had were an old John Deere tractor his father left him and hand-me-down furniture. 

Adams recalled that the financial stress caused marital issues and the solutions seemed few and drastic.

“My wife was going to town one day and I was grinding feed. I looked inside at that hammer mill going around and I thought, ‘That would be a perfect way to end this problem,’ he said. “I’m thankful now that I didn’t do it, but I had it planned right down to the minute. It would have looked like an accident; my wife would have received the life insurance and everything would have been alright… That’s the furthest thing from the truth.”

Fast forward and things came together for Adams, thanks to his faith and belief from his family and friends. He had a relatively successful excavation business and became a reserve deputy for the Union County Sheriff’s Office.

“It took me 20 years to get credit at the co-op,” Adams said. “But we rose from the ashes.”

Adams is now the sheriff of Union County and unfortunately, he is no stranger to responding to calls of suicide during his law enforcement career.

“Since I’ve been sheriff, one of the hardest things to do is make a death notification,” he said. “There's nothing wrong with asking for help. Whether it's emotional help, physical, spiritual or financial – it doesn't matter. There's nothing wrong with asking others.”

In addition to his work in law enforcement, Adams serves as pastor at Liberty Nazarene Church. He felt the call to preach approximately 8-10 years ago – following in his father’s footsteps. He’s been actively preaching for 6 years but grew up in that same church and attended all 67 years of his life.

“I guess that's where I got my education for the ministry. I believe that God prepares you early in life for things that will happen later in your life,” he said. “My kids would say that I have been preaching all their lives, but I wanted to make sure it was a call from the Lord instead of someone saying ‘hey, you'd make a good preacher.’”

Adams said he has a passion for mental care for farmers and veterans. His oldest son served in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and is in counseling for PTSD.

“There needs to be more of a focus on good mental health for all people.  My faith and relationship with God is a huge part of what helps me through tough times – both emotionally and physically,” he said. “I could quote a number of scriptures but the one that comes to mind is Proverbs 3:5-6 – ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.’”

Growing up, Adams said he came from an era where when you had troubles, you didn't talk about it.

“You sucked it up. You put your big boy pants on, and you hoped for a better year next year,” he said. “When I was growing up, if you asked for help, you were a failure or you were weak. We've got to do away with that stigma.”

Adams said the issue is that “those that need help the most, ask for it the least.”

“Find a friend, be a friend,” he said. “There’s always someone out there that can help you, that can empathize with you and can help you get through things like this. Because not one of us – I don’t care how old you are or how long you’ve been farming – are exempt from having some kind of mental problems where you worry about things or things get you down. It doesn’t mean you’re crazy. Life can be so stressful at times that you don’t know what you are going to do, so find a friend.” 

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Robert Herrington

(317) 692-7871

RHerrington@infb.org