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Almost two-thirds of farmers were stressed last year.
A Teagasc survey has revealed 83% of farmers said stress levels were driven by weather concerns, followed by workload (57%) and money (48%). However, there were “significant differences” across farm systems, according to Dr Emma Dillon of Teagasc.
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“If we talk about dairy farmers, about 75% said they were experiencing stress in 2018 and we saw the main drivers of that being weather, workload and finance.”
Two-thirds of sheep farmers said they were stressed by the workload on farms. Brian Moran from Teagasc’s Rural Economy and Development Centre also pointed out that over a third found paperwork and compliance stressful.
“What we would have seen is that sheep farmers would be in more pillar II-type schemes. They’re generally in GLAS, the sheep welfare scheme and ANC. It’s compliance with those schemes that is causing them stress, rather than animal issues.”
During Men’s Mental Health Week, farmers are being encouraged to open up about mental health and depression.
Teagasc director Prof Gerry Boyle said weather issues caused “particularly acute” levels of stress, with farm incomes plummeting across beef, sheep and dairy sectors. “We are increasingly recognising that there is a correlation between the traditional health and safety perspective and the actual wellbeing of farmers and their health,” he said.
“We did come across situations where farmers were caught up by stress and we’re not qualified to support farmers in those situations, but we did of course refer them to other agencies.”
Boyle said advisers encountered cases where farmers were obviously depressed and that Teagasc felt the need to respond to this. “We’ve actually recently appointed an additional health and safety specialist to focus on these areas, so we see it as something our advisors meet on the doorsteps, particularly in situations like last year.”
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