SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (WNAX) – Stress is rising in rural areas across the region due to a combination of bad weather and volatile economic conditions.

Avera Health is opening a 24 hour “Farm and Rural Stress Hotline.”

Amber Reints, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Avera Health in Sioux Falls, says they are offering choices.

Reints says there will be trained counselors on the hotline.

Reints says they know farming is much more than just a business.

The hotline is: 800-691-4336 and will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.