Guest article by Stephanie Berkeley, Manager, Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies)
The past few years have undoubtedly proved challenging for the UK’s farming industry. Continued uncertainty surrounding Brexit, a global pandemic and the war in Ukraine have been impacting the mental health of those living and working in farming.
Like many, the farming community is also struggling with spiraling costs. The cost of fertiliser has trebled in price, red diesel has doubled in price and, with the current climate, cost of living, loss of BPS payments and more environmental pressures, the impact on farmers, their business and their mental health is giving us real cause for concern.
We surveyed 450 UK farmers under the age of 40 and 94 per cent agreed that poor mental health is one of the biggest hidden problems facing the industry today – a figure that has shot up from 84% three years ago.
The survey also revealed the levels of mental health - (using the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales (WEMWBS) - in the industry are deteriorating and have fallen year-on-year for the past three years. When the same survey was carried out on 450 farmers over the age of 40, the results revealed that WEMWBS levels of mental wellbeing in older farmers were even lower than their younger counterparts.
Six years ago, we launched Mind Your Head, a campaign to draw attention to serious concerns and uncertainty facing the industry in the wake of Brexit. However, nobody could have foreseen the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain shortages, issues with the pork sector, egg and poultry sector and how these would impact the mental health of those living and working in farming.
In an industry that continues to have the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK, making sure farmers are looking after their physical and mental wellbeing has never been more important. 21 farm workers lost their lives in fatal farm incidents in 2022/2023 (HSE) and there were 36 suicides registered in England and Wales by those working in the farming and agricultural industry in 2021, according to the Office of National Statistics.
Link between farm safety and mental health
Nine out of 10 young farmers believe that farm safety and mental health are directly linked, but how many of these deaths are the result of the farm worker not being in the right headspace when doing the job? We will never know.
Our research also highlighted some worrying trends in those registering lower mental wellbeing scores. In the study, farmers with lower WEMWBS scores were less likely to take steps to stay safe on the farm (e.g. wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and carry out risk assessments). They were also more likely to admit to taking risks, less likely to think about the consequences and less likely to take personal responsibility for their safety.
This is why a charity like the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) exists and why it matters.
On a more positive note, farmers recognise that there are barriers to ‘opening up’ about their mental health but, having ‘no one to talk to’ was not seen as a significant barrier. This is because we have fantastic farming charities and rural support groups operating in the UK.
However, calls to rural support helplines have increased or become more complex over the past three years. Urgent action is needed to support the ongoing mental health of our farmers. We need to take the pressure off these rural support groups and charities that are increasingly relied upon to provide support for those in crisis situations.
