Among the age group that was analysed, the mean suicide rate was 6.4 cases/100,000 per year in the 2006–2010 period, with a male/female ratio of 4.2. The times series showed that there were higher suicide rates among people aged 35–64 years and among men aged 15–34 years. The ecological analysis showed that the suicide rates were higher in micro-regions with a higher proportion of farms run by 35–64 year olds, female workers and on farms with better economic indicators (higher farming income, level of mechanization and farm area). There was a positive association between the Catholic religion and suicide rates. Micro-regions with a greater use of pesticides, and with a high proportion of pesticide poisoning had the highest suicide rates for all three groups analysed: both genders, men, and women (p ranging from 0.01 to p