Farmers have been urged to take on the role of health and safety officers on their farms.

Dr John McNamara from Teagasc and Finola Colgan from Mental Health Ireland were speaking about farmer wellbeing on the latest episode of the HSE Talking Health and Wellbeing podcast.

They spoke about the unique mental health challenges farmers face, the importance of health and safety and initiatives to support their wellbeing.

Dr McNamara said that farmers must take responsibility and initiative to look for help for themselves and their farm workers.

“By and large, [farms] are families really; they work on their own. There is an increasing number of employees maybe in the dairy sector, but it is a very hazardous environment and the farmer has to be a health and safety manager for their own business,” added Dr McNamara.

“Farmers need to realise that health is their most important resource.”

Supports

Farm Connect and On Feirm Ground were suggested as programmes that can provide resources and training to improve farmers' mental health.

During the podcast, the guests also spoke about the difficulty of accessing mental health services in rural areas and the significance of community engagement through discussion groups.

Colgan warned farmers of the effects that neglecting your mental health can cause to your business or personal life.

“At the end of the day if a farmer is not well, let that be mentally or physically, the farm enterprise is impacted, the family is impacted, income is derailed basically,” she said.

“We would like farmers, especially as they get older, to get a health check from their GP annually or thereabouts,” added McNamara.

“Firstly, you get the benefit of a one-to-one with your doctor and they take vital measurements. But, also, farmers get into the hang of meeting their doctors.

“If we put it the other way around, if a farmer hasn't been to see his doctor in a while and they develop a mental health problem, what are the chances that they are going to see a doctor then?”

Read more

Research shows money is ‘overriding stress factor’ with farmers

Farmer Writes: Not everything puts on weight over Christmas

‘I’ve always wanted to move home and keep my rural roots’