Don’t bottle it up – Mind Your Head
Extreme weather conditions, poor harvests, supply chain shortages and a global pandemic made the past two years incredibly challenging for the UK’s farming industry.
But through it all farmers endured, as they always do. Their hard work puts food on our plates, produced to some of the highest standards in the world, and their stewardship knits together the environmental and social fabric of our iconic landscape.
Their remarkable adaptability, resilience and hard work, though, comes at a price.
In an industry that continues to have the poorest safety record of any UK occupation, making sure we look after our physical and mental wellbeing has never been more relevant.
The Farm Safety Foundation charity - also known as Yellow Wellies - is this week running its fifth annual Mind Your Head campaign to break down mental health barriers in farming.
A recent study by the foundation revealed that mental health issues among farmers and agricultural workers are of growing concern and are having a direct impact on safety - with 92 per cent of farmers under the age of 40 suggesting poor mental health is the biggest hidden problem facing farmers today (up 82 per cent since 2018).
In an industry where 34 farm workers lost their lives in farm incidents in 2020/2021, an additional 44 farming-related suicides were registered in England and Wales by the Office of National Statistics.
Farm Safety Foundation manager Stephanie Berkeley said: ‘I think it is time we dealt with the issue of poor mental health head-on.
‘My father always advised me to never judge anyone unless you walked in their shoes, which are words I live by. It is important to know what is really going on behind the smiling or grumpy demeanour.
‘Many in rural communities are suffering and doing so in silence.
‘As an industry, it’s time to ease the pressure, stop expecting people to be perfect and start talking openly about feelings with people you trust.’
The Mind Your Head campaign aims to dispel the myths and tackle stigma around mental health and highlight the support available to those living and working in farming.
Actor Kelvin Fletcher, who last year bought a 120-acre farm in the Peak District, is supporting the campaign.
He said: ‘I feel really privileged to have been welcomed so warmly by the farming community, who have supported me so much since I started my farm last year. Before joining farming, I had no idea the community was so heavily impacted by bad mental health.
‘If one person reads about Mind Your Head and decides to reach out or to check in on a loved one, that’s a step in the right direction.
‘Please, be that person and start the conversation. You never know how much it could mean to someone struggling silently.’
For more information on the Mind Your Head campaign visit www.yellowwellies.org or follow @yellowwelliesUK on social media using the hashtag #MindYourHead.