Urgent mental health help needed in agriculture

Norco chief executive officer Michael Hampson said the National Farmer Wellbeing Report — that the farmer-owned co-operative launched in partnership with the National Farmers’ Federation in 2023 — shone a spotlight on the severity of the issue of mental health in agriculture, and highlights why this funding is so vital.

“We knew that farmer mental health was an important area of focus that needed much greater attention,” Mr Hampson said.

“However, the data that we uncovered was incredibly confronting and made it abundantly clear that the issues at hand across our country were much bigger than what Norco could solve for on its own.

“The welfare of our farmers need a whole of industry and government approach if they are to be addressed in a truly meaningful way.

“Compounded by what our farmers have endured over the past several years in terms of natural disasters and debilitating weather events — which are predicted to be more frequent and severe by climate experts — Norco has made an unwavering commitment to do everything within the co-operative’s power to champion the importance of improved farmer wellbeing, which is why this coalition and call to action is so critical.

“As an industry and as a nation, we simply owe it to our farmers.”

Tim Driscoll, from the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Queensland and chair of the steering committee leading this initiative, said the statistics were sobering.

“A farmer dies by suicide every 10 days. That’s up to twice the rate of the general working population,” Dr Driscoll said.

“Poor mental health and suicide is having a devastating impact on rural families, communities and businesses right now, and we need federal help to fix it.

“The wellbeing of people in agriculture is impacted by increasingly complex and compounding events like weather and natural disasters, financial stress, and geographic or social isolation.”

National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke said farming could be tough and there needed to be the right resources in place to help them deal with the challenges thrown at them.

“A farmer’s greatest asset isn’t their land, livestock or produce — it’s their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of the people around them,” Mr Jochinke said.

“It’s clear the unique mental health needs in agriculture are not being met by existing services and we need government to give us a leg up so we can turn these devastating statistics around.”

Kate Gunn — a clinical psychologist and founder of ifarmwell, based at the University of South Australia — said it was a crucial time to invest in the wellbeing of Australian farming communities.

“There is an urgent need for coordinated, farmer-friendly, evidence-based approaches to address this critical issue,” Associate Professor Gunn said. ifarmwell is one of the organisations that has endorsed the joint statement for urgent action.

“As someone who has worked in the field of farmer wellbeing for more than 15 years, this is the closest we’ve been to finding a meaningful way to bring together farmers, industry bodies and other organisations to address farmer mental health,” she said.

“While the philanthropic sector has been generous to date, support from the Australian Government is crucial to quickly and impactfully reach farmers with evidence-based initiatives, on a national scale.”

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