Professor David Rose, elizabeth creak chair in sustainable agricultural change at Harper Adams University, has published various studies on mental health, wellbeing and resilience in agriculture. He said unless all of Government pulls in the same direction, including recognising the role of uncertainty, bureaucracy, and broken promises on wellbeing, there will be little progress in tackling poor mental health in the farming community.
The latest statistics from the Farm Safety Foundation paint a picture of worsening wellbeing, with farmers working longer hours and nearly two out of three saying that poor mental health could be seen as a weakness.
At the same time, Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner MP recently announced that 'Defra has set up a dedicated team to look at the particular set of issues driving poor mental health outcomes in the farming and agricultural sector…to review how we can best support those experiencing poor mental health'.
To make any substantive process, Defra and the Government, as a whole, needs to tackle both causes of, and support for, poor farmer wellbeing in a joined-up way.
The two aspects go hand-in-hand: the support landscape for farmer wellbeing could be brilliant, but if the underlying causes of poor wellbeing are not tackled, farmers will feel like it is a case of 'out of the frying pan, and into the fire'.
Likewise, even if various drivers of poor wellbeing were tackled as effectively as possible, farming will always be a stressful occupation, requiring a good landscape of support.
Here are five tips for the new Defra team to tackle poor mental health in farming:
'It all works together, or it does not work'
Language and actions matter. After the quote above, Daniel Zeichner listed a number of initiatives to support farmer mental health: the Farming Recovery Fund, 8,500 new mental health support workers (not farming-specific), and a national network of young futures hubs to support young person mental health (not farming-specific).
At the same time, the Farming Resilience Fund was discontinued, key farming leaders left a meeting with Treasury Ministers saying that it was 'one of the most unproductive meetings' they have had in decades, and the Prime Minister appeared to pit farmers on a collision course with the NHS.
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All of Government, including Defra, must recognise that their language and actions can be one of the major causes of poor farmer wellbeing.
Their approach to Inheritance Tax changes – which consisted of saying nothing would change, then changing it, and then steadfastly refusing to listen to any stakeholders – is the latest incident in a long history of strained relations and mistrust between farmers and Government.
Unless all of Government pulls in the same direction, including recognising the impact of uncertainty, bureaucracy, and broken promises on wellbeing, there will be little progress.
'Defra is only one piece of the puzzle'
Continuing on the need for a joined-up approach, the new Defra team needs to work constructively with other departments and overcome its reputation for being at the back of the queue.
Farming wellbeing will not improve if spaces of rural community continue to be hollowed out (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), or rural areas remain unconnected (Department for Transport), or the NHS does not provide good mental health support in rural areas (Department of Health and Social Care), or if the Treasury remains deliberately or ignorantly clueless about how farming works.
'The State must provide better support'
In a country where, theoretically, free physical and mental healthcare is universally available to all, farmers (and others) have faced issues in accessing good state-funded support.
The mantle has largely been picked up by civil society – including mental health charities (including farming-specific ones), chaplains, peers, and many others – to fill a gap in service provision.
Whilst 8,500 new mental health support workers should be welcomed, Defra ought to consider the extent to which they are accessible and tailored to farming communities.
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Will these support workers be accessible to people in rural locations?
Will they have knowledge of rural and farming communities?
How will they help busy farmers, who can face a stigma in reaching out, to access support?
The State cannot continue to rely on civil society organisations, and so-called ‘accidental counsellors', to pick up the pieces.
'Civil society organisations need more support'
Whilst the State has a role to play, we know that farming mental health charities, agricultural chaplains, and many others, are highly trusted to support farmers.
They conduct this work in a challenging landscape, struggling for funding and other resources.
Future actions from Government should continue to look at how these trusted supporters can better support themselves.
'We still need to know more'
There has been, and there continues to be, good UK research on how to address the problem of poor farmer wellbeing.
Some of this research is now exploring how different types of farmers – e.g. women, young farmers, etc. – face wellbeing challenges and how a tailored support approach might be required.
Other research continues to explore, for example, the role of so-called ‘accidental counsellors', including the Agri-Wellbeing Alliance initiative, aimed at providing resources for those who visit farms, such as agronomists, contractors, and land agents.
Whilst much can be done before we know more, we still need to know more, including learning from other countries and other sectors (e.g the military).
Defra needs to support this work.
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