WORDS BY RICHARD RENNIE, IMAGES SUPPLIED
Neil Bateup, North Waikato farmer and chair of the Waikato Hauraki Coromandel Rural Support Trust has farmed in his district all his life, one that is typical of so many small rural areas throughout the country. Like many famers his age, he has witnessed some drastic changes to his rural community over the past 30 years, changes which in some respects have made farming easier, but in other ways significantly tougher and more isolated.
“It used to be every district had its own hall, tennis club, school and even a rugby club. There was a lot of community spirit. Cars were not as good as they are now, nor were the roads so you didn’t travel too far.”
Farms tended to be smaller often one-man affairs, so neighbours would help neighbours with jobs like haymaking, and they would often prove to be as much a social occasion and a necessary job with stops for tea, drinks, and conversation along the way.
While not missing the tough grind of stacking small square hay bales, Neil believes the loss of social connection brought on in part by greater mechanisation and the hollowing out of rural communities contributes to some of the mental stresses he and his group deal with today. At the same time the mental challenge of running a farm business is greater today than back when the physicality of the business was more intense.
“It was definitely more physical, you would be clearing drains with a spade, dealing to gorse with a slasher, feeding the pigs by hand, it was a pretty hard, long workday.”
Meantime today’s farms are demanding more around compliance, health and safety, water quality and greenhouse gases. Staff expectations around leave and conditions are deservedly greater, and also have to be juggled in an environment where good staff can be hard to come by.
“Farms are bigger, more complex businesses now, with the expectations of more people and parties being placed upon you, and often as the boss it can be hard to roster yourself off to get a break from it all.”
He doubts the usual climatic factors like droughts and extended wet weather have necessarily got any more frequent in recent years to add to farming stress, having witnessed some “real tough” drought years through the 1970s and 1990s in his own career.
“In some respects, you have more tools to deal with these now than we had then, supplements like maize silage, palm kernel, for example.”
Generationally farmers are however more prepared now to discuss mental health and take steps to improve it as things pile up within the farm gate.
“Not so many years ago it was something that was really not discussed much, you were expected to toughen up, get on with it. It was almost a taboo subject.”
While there will always be farmers whose work is their hobby, and who have issues when they expect others who work for them to do the same, there is an increasing awareness of the need for a work life balance. It is even more important when one’s business is also their home, and being able to separate the two can be exceptionally challenging.
“I think of our own 50:50 sharemilker who now puts himself on the roster for time off every second weekend and the farm’s flexibility has been improved thanks to them running a once-a-day milking system all year round.
“I am increasingly encouraged by the number of people who are looking at flexible options for milking for example, trying to give people a break and make it possible to have a life off the farm. The awareness of this is much greater now.”
But looking ahead, he is also conscious stresses in the coming season across the primary sector are likely to ratchet up further, thanks to a softening of commodity prices almost across the board and continuing high cost structures.
“More banks and accountants have been reporting people are not paying their overdrafts down and are likely to carry them forward into the new farming year, which is not a great sign.”
To avoid this piling up as another mental pressure point, he is advising farmers to plan well ahead, anticipating what the decline in revenue will mean, and working in advance to communicate that to the likes of their banker and accountant before it becomes a tough reality.
“Even if you can’t solve everything, using the best information you have means most people can deal with the problems. It is the uncertainty they struggle with.”
He says most farmers can manage a single pressure point, possibly a dry summer or a low payout year, for example.
“But it is when you start to get multiple pressure points, even two or more, it could be both personal and farm issues that combine. If you can get them to put a plan in place to deal with each of those challenges, it could involve counselling, farm advice, employment mediation, just to take that pressure off.”
Signs of mental stress include a farmer shutting off from their peers and community, not getting off the farm and avoiding contact with others. Increased alcohol consumption can also indicate a level of mental distress. While Rural Support’s staff are not trained to a professional level in mental health counselling, they are skilled up to recognise the signs and how to approach farmers in need of help, often indicated by spouses or visiting rural professionals.
Neil says the ideal for Rural Support staff is to not have to be the ambulance beneath the cliff, and the trust actively supports activities and projects that can help provide the fence above that cliff.
“We have seen events like Surfing for Farmers prove very popular, attracting a great number of farmers all over the country. It’s as much about catching up off the farm with other farmers, having a barbeque and a chat as it is about learning to surf.”
Farmers in the central North Island who are further from the sea have also formed a Rural Riders group, aimed firmly at the rural community to get farmers on their mountain bikes exercising and socialising, two key components for maintaining good mental health. Working with TV presenter, farmer and speaker Matt Chisholm, the trust’s Time Out Tour has also been exceptionally well attended with over 200 farmers and family members attending Matt’s discussions on mental wellbeing.
For Neil Bateup, as a long time farmer he sees his role on the trust as an opportunity to give back to farming, and help the next generation of farmers deal with the many additional challenges his generation never faced early in their careers.
For more information, visit Rural Support Trust.