Nine in ten farmers under the age of 40 say poor mental health is the biggest hidden problem facing the industry today, according to an annual campaign aiming to put a spotlight on the issue.
The worrying statistic is included in the fifth Mind Your Head campaign, which launches today to illustrate actions being taken to break down mental health barriers in agriculture.
Campaign organisers the Farm Safety Foundation, known as Yellow Wellies, says mental health issues among farmers and farm workers are of growing concern, as they have a direct impact on farm safety.
The charity's survey, published on Monday (14 February), shows that 92% of farmers under the age of 40 believe poor mental health is the biggest issue facing farmers, an increase from 82% in 2018.
The industry, which continues to have the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK, has experienced a particularly challenging past couple of years.
During this period, farmers saw extreme weather conditions, poor harvests, supply chain shortages and a global pandemic to contend with.
In 2020 alone, there were a total of 44 suicides registered in England and Wales by those working in the farming industry in 2020, according to the Office of National Statistics.
Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the Farm Safety Foundation, said: “As an industry, I think it is time we deal with the issue of poor mental health head on.
"We need to talk about our feelings and let everyone living and working in farming know that it’s completely ok to have feelings, good and bad, but it's also important to let them out.
"Life isn’t always as it seems, we don’t post on social media about the days that we wished we didn’t get out of bed or the days we didn’t feel like it.
"Many living and working 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.”
It follows the recent RABI Big Farming Survey, which revealed that 36% of the farming community in the UK are ‘probably’ or ‘possibly’ depressed.
The rural charity's survey, launched in January 2021, was the largest wellbeing survey of its kind ever to launch in England and Wales.
It found that the most common sources of stress recorded were: regulation, compliance and inspection, Covid-19, unpredictable weather and loss of subsides.
Over half (52%) of respondents said they experienced pain and discomfort, and one in four reported mobility problems.
And over one-fifth of farmer respondents (21%) said they had problems in undertaking usual on-farm tasks due to health issues.
As a result of the survey's findings, RABI launched two mental health support services for farmers last month.
These include new in-person mental health counselling and farming-focused mental health training initiatives.
