Episode 2: Strengthening Your Support Team – AgriSafe

Your health, wellbeing and safety are your primary production business’ number #1 asset. In this episode, AgriSafe clinician Morna Semmens joins Wimmera cropping farmer Tom Dunstan to discuss how the AgriSafe program can help to prevent work-related risks to mental health for primary producers.

Now streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and here.

This podcast is part of the Primary Producer Knowledge Network led by the National Centre for Farmer Health to promote mentally healthy workplaces. Campfire, part of the Primary Producer Knowledge Network, was funded by the Victorian State Government’s WorkSafe WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.

Are you too busy to look after yourself… or even retire?

This topic will be discussed as part of our online bonfire on June 23rd, “Strengthening Your Support Team: AgriSafe.”

At 61, Jenny* is ready to retire from dairying.

Her husband, Bill, says he is too, but there’s still no plan as to how or when they’ll leave their Gippsland farm.

Jenny met Bill just after finishing high school at a local dance. She grew up on a dairy farm herself, and trained to be a nurse, swearing she would never marry a farmer, especially a dairy farmer.

“I knew all about the hours involved, I watched how hard my father and mother worked …but I guess love got in the way, and I married a dairy farmer.

So, she moved to Bill’s family’s farm near Heyfield, she kept nursing part-time while also raising her three sons and helping out on the farm. In that time they turned a 200-cow dairy into a 600-cow operation.

She doesn’t regret her decision at all, she loves the cows and the countryside. But, when she thinks back to her own parents, she realises they never got the chance to retire together. Her Dad was always too busy to attend doctors’ appointments and died from a preventable heart condition at the age of 59.

She doesn’t want the same thing to happen to her and Bill.

They have a 22 year old son interested in taking on the business, but Bill is worried that it’s too soon to make such a commitment. Bill’s also still so busy with the farm; milking and managing his two employees, that he feels like he barely has time to think about the future or his own health.

“If I’m honest, we could do with another full time person. The staff are stressed as it is, trying to get the cows through the rotary twice a day, as well as looking after the calves and all the farm up-keep,” Jenny said.

It has been hard to find skilled farm employees and Covid-19 has only exacerbated the problem. Jenny says one of their recent recruits is very “green” and can be un-motivated, which is causing friction within the team.

Jenny’s worried this stress is impacting safety.

“Earlier this year, Bill put his back out after slipping over in the mud, while rushing to shut a gate. He had to take nearly two months off work.”

Jenny knows Bill’s mounting stress contributed to his fall. She also knows that the resulting injury made Bill’s stress levels (and the stress levels of their workers) increase even further. She knows that change needs to happen.

Morna Semmens is an AgriSafe clinician with the National Centre for Farmer Health and says farms can be dangerous places.

“We know that farmers and ag workers are exposed to a wide range of dangers. We also know a healthy farm business relies on a healthy farmer—physically and mentally.”

Agriculture, fishing and forestry continues to be the highest risk occupational group with around 10 times the rate of fatality compared with the rest of the working population.

But Morna Semmens says it’s not just the risk of fatal injury that farmers need to think about, it’s the full range of preventable risks to mental and physical health, many of which are often neglected and can have a cumulative impact. This includes risks ranging from exposure to agrichemicals (which can be prevented by changed farming practices and improved use of personal protective equipment), through to poor workplace relationships (which can be prevented by improved workplace communications and problem solving strategies, shared decision making and clear assigning of tasks).

“Most farmers have an agriculture advice and support team  – vets, agronomists, seed specialists, mechanics to help support them and manage risk, she told the Mallee Sustainable Farming podcast.

“So I feel it’s an opportunity missed to not have an identified health and mental wellbeing team behind you as well – so that might be a dentist, GP, physio, counsellor etc.”

Worksafe Victoria’s guide has identified how time pressure, poor support and poor workplace relationships can ultimately impact the mental health and safety of farmers.

But Morna says there’s a great opportunity for farmers to make changes and lead by example.

“Be brave enough to be a positive role model,” she said,

“Encourage your family, your employees, your community and other industry leaders to change how they think about mental and physical health and safety…. because if it’s a whole community doing those things, then bigger changes happen. If we can continue to make small changes to prevent these risks, our workplaces (and homes for many farming families) will be healthier, happier and more productive.”

Child Farm-Related Injury in Australia: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Children on farms have been identified as a population vulnerable to injury. This review seeks to identify child farm-related injury rates in Australia and to determine the key hazards and contributing risk factors. This critical review utilised the PRISMA guidelines for database searching. Research from the year 2000 onward was included as well as earlier seminal texts. Reference lists were searched, and the relevant research material was explored. Our primary focus was on Australian peer-reviewed literature with international and grey literature examples included. Evidence suggests that there is limited Australian research focusing on child farm-related injuries. Child representation in farm-related injuries in Australia has remained consistent over time, and the key hazards causing these injuries have remained the same for over 20 years. The factors contributing to child rates of farm injury described in the literature include child development and exposure to dangerous environments, the risk-taking culture, multi-generational farming families, lack of supervision, child labour and lack of regulation, limited targeted farm safety programs, underuse of safe play areas, financial priorities and poor understanding and operationalisation of the hierarchy of control. It is well known that children experience injury on farms, and the key hazards that cause this have been clearly identified. However, the level of exposure to hazards and the typical attitudes, behaviours and actions of children and their parents around the farm that contribute to child injury remain unexplored.

Farming and fishing ‘safety’ is not a set of rules, it’s a life-saving culture

This topic will be discussed as part of our online bonfire on June 9th, “Strengthening Your Support Team: Farming and Fishing Safety Consultants.”

As a fisherman, whenever Matthew* heard about the death of a fellow fisher– he always put it down to bad luck. Tragic and awfully sad; but simply part of the toll involved in a lifestyle devoted to worshipping the sea. It could happen to anyone.

And then one day, the sea decided it was his turn.

Matt, 45, and his friend Trevor, 60, were pulling cray pots off Victoria’s south-west coast last year. The waters were choppy – but that’s hardly unusual for Port Fairy. Matt remembers how the pair were rushing, they knew stronger weather was coming, but it was a good catch and there was pressure from their boss to get it all in. Just as they were pulling the final cray pots into the boat, the swell picked up, overturning the vessel and plunging the men into the sea.

Trevor, an experienced fisherman, was fitter than most men half his age. But he struggled in the rough seas and went under. Matt was thrown so far away, he couldn’t even attempt to save his friend. All Matt could do, was reach the cap-sized boat and hold on … for the three hours it took until the rescue helicopter arrived.

“I lost a good mate that day. A wife lost her husband and his teenage kids lost their Dad,” Matt said.

Matt and Trevor weren’t wearing life jackets.

“It’s a job we’ve done hundreds of times before,” Matt said.

“And if we had life jackets on, Trev would have had a chance.”

Matt’s attitude to the sea, has completely changed now. His friend died in an avoidable accident. It wasn’t bad luck.

Five people are killed on fishing boats every year, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Recent reports suggests fishing is 25 times more dangerous to work in than mining or construction.

Matt says we need to get the safety message out to fishers and farmers too, to save lives.

“Fishers.. and farmers, we all love our jobs. It can be busy and high pressure at times– but it’s never worth dying for,” he said.

SeSafe, is a safety training initiative that formed in 2018 with the slogan “What if you don’t go home?”

The project’s principal investigator Steve Earys says a cultural change is needed.

“Unfortunately, in this industry there is widespread acceptance of the hazards and risks of working at sea.”

He said that’s particularly the case for those who have been doing the job for many years.

Safety consultant, Paul Livingston likens safety culture to an “iceberg.”

“…where the smaller top portion is visible and tangible and the driving portion remains unsighted.”

What he means, is that workplaces will focus on collecting the incident data and KPIs, but underpinning this safety culture, are the beliefs and assumptions of individuals, their relationships and the communication around safety.

A Worksafe report has also highlighted how a lack of safety is a major contributor to poor mental wellbeing;  adding to the psychosocial hazards fishers and farmers experience. And when these factors combine – such as a dangerous work environment, poor external support, high job demands and low job control – it puts significant stress on an individual.

There are multiple layers to encouraging safety at work, from enlisting the help of safety consultants, increasing staff training, better safety equipment and changing management practices. But it’s embedding this within a culture of safety on the farm or at sea, that will ultimately make the safety message stick.

Farmer Health eNews June 2021

Find out the latest from the National Centre for Farmer Health

• Healthy and Sustainable Agricultural Communities (HMF702) Scholarship Applications are EXTENDED: Don’t miss out!
• The innovative and exciting new web-based platform ‘Campfire’ is NOW LIVE! 
• Would your secondary school like to host a Gear Up for Ag Health & Safety™ Program?
• Wellness Wednesday

View the June 2021 eNews

Read past issues of eNews

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Mental health in the commercial fishing industry: Modern uncertainties and traditional risks

Abstract

Commercial fishers face a range of stressors that impact physical and mental health. However, there is limited research on the level of mental ill-health among fishers and on the nature of stressors that contribute to their psychological distress. This paper focuses on the experiences of commercial wild-catch fishers and analyses the results of an Australian national survey conducted in 2017 (n = 872) (Appendix S1). We first assess underlying themes in perceived stressors, identifying three distinct categories termed ‘traditional risks’, ‘modern uncertainties’ and ‘future concerns’. Second, we assess the level of self-reported psychological distress, demonstrating higher occurrence of high to very high psychological distress among commercial fishers in comparison with the national population. Third, we examine the relationship between different groups of stressors and psychological distress, finding that stronger perceptions of both ‘traditional risks’ and ‘modern uncertainties’ are associated with greater levels of psychological distress among fishers. Third, recognizing diversity within the industry, we examine differences in these relationships among skippers and crew (work role), and inshore versus offshore fishers (fishing location). Our analysis demonstrates that ‘traditional risks’ and ‘modern uncertainties’ differentially impact on fisher mental health and depend on the individual’s role in the industry and their fishing location. The findings suggest that changes to factors associated with modern uncertainty stressors—including government management techniques, red tape, media representation and political support—could significantly improve mental health in the commercial fishing sector.

How do you convince your farming family to plan for a future under climate change?

This topic will be discussed as part of our online bonfire on May 26, “Making your business more resilient to environmental extremes.”

Jack* may be a young farmer, but at the age of 20, he’s already experienced one of Australia’s worst droughts and a global pandemic.

It has given him a wisdom well beyond his years, about risk.

Jack’s currently studying at an agricultural college in Melbourne, but is keen to get back to his family’s cropping property in the Wimmera, in Victoria’s wheatbelt, where he has ambitious plans for the future.

“We were lucky with Covid-19, it didn’t really affect our business too much – but we had just been through a three-year drought, where year after year, we didn’t make a profit,” Jack said.

“And while the rain has returned for now, we need to accept the realities of climate change and plan for future.”

But getting this message through to his parents has been difficult.

Communication is not the family’s strong suit. Just after Jack was born, his uncle walked away from the farm over a rift with Jack’s grandfather – and the family hasn’t spoken to Jack’s uncle since.

Jack, realises he still has a lot to learn about running a farming business, but he feels he also has a lot to offer. Struggling to have some clarity and direction for his role in the family business has been something that has caused him significant stress. He also knows that having a longer-term, evidence-based plan will make managing and planning for extreme climatic events will be better for business, increase job security for their contract staff and improve the mental health of everyone involved—including himself.

“I’m keen on designing a strategic farm plan to understand how we can manage the property better in terms of the environment – through practices such as no till, cover cropping and shelter belts,” Jack said.

“The soil is the key – if we look after that, we de-risk the farm substantially. Then there’s also the potential for soil carbon credits.”

Jack also wants to investigate whether grazing sheep or cattle would  improve the soil through storing carbon, as well as diversifying production.

But Jack says when he last raised this, his father dismissed him by saying it looked ‘suspiciously like regenerative agriculture’ which Jack’s dad ‘doesn’t believe in.’

Whether these sustainability measures are considered part of the regenerative agriculture movement or not, doesn’t bother Jack – for him, it’s all about the results. Since he was 16, he’s been participating in soil trials run by the Birchip Cropping Group, investigating soil types and new technologies to understand how ecosystems work. The knowledge he has gained has given him a sense of clarity and opened his eyes to strategies for a positive future.

An evidence-based, data driven approach is what the sustainable farming experts are advocating for.

Mark Wootton is a pioneer in sustainable farming, who reached carbon neutrality in 2011 at his property, Jigsaw Farms, near Hamilton, in western Victoria.

He says there are increasing pressures for farms to be more sustainable.

“We’re going to have to look at some of the more intense systems being kinder to the environment;  having a higher level of social license in terms of whether it’s pesticides or whether it’s water usage or whether it’s a carbon conversion,” Mark told the Agtech…So What? podcast.

 “Whatever criteria you use, we’re going to have to get good at this.”

Mark runs 20,000 sheep, 500 cows and has a timber plantation that acts as a carbon sink. His carbon neutral farming system has been backed by a peer reviewed study by the CSIRO.

And while Marks says agriculture still lacks solid, transferable data – it’s clear his own on-farm changes are working.

“What we do is clearly positive for the environment in any sense of the word,” Mark said.

“And yet we can still produce double the amount of food and fibre and not damage the environment.”

For Jack, changing mindsets on the farm may be challenging, but he knows that a clear plan for gradual changes in how they design and manage work on the farm moving into the future will have huge benefits. This will be great for the farming business, but also important for his own mental wellbeing.

Episode 1: Working Effectively in a Family Business

In this episode, John Broons, a family business advisor, and Hugh Macdonald, a sheep farmer from South-West Victoria discuss how to navigate the challenges and rewards of working effectively in a family farm business. They explore how to avoid strained relationships, increased conflict and confusion about roles within the business.

Now streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and here.

This podcast is part of the Primary Producer Knowledge Network led by the National Centre for Farmer Health to promote mentally healthy workplaces. Campfire, part of the Primary Producer Knowledge Network, was funded by the Victorian State Government’s WorkSafe WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.

So, you’ve got some big ideas for the farm – but how do you get your family to listen?

This topic will be discussed as part of our online bonfire on May 19, “Working Effectively in a Family Business.”

Every harvest, Rebecca* tells herself it’s going to be different. They’re going to be more prepared – the fruit pickers will be hired earlier, there’ll be plenty of time for training at their Swan Hill orchard and all the other niggling farm jobs will be done before the busiest time of the year.

But somehow, it never happens.

At least, no one could have predicted the challenges horticulture was going to face last harvest. Covid-19 meant the usual seasonal backpacker workforce simply wasn’t there. And Rebecca had the added responsibility of keeping the staff she did have, COVID-safe, while also juggling border closures.

But now she wants to make some changes and take more control of how the business finds their workforce. After all, there’s so much you can’t control in farming (like the weather, water availability, markets and yes, global pandemics). Finding 30 people to pick and package stone fruit every year, is never easy. It’s hard to find reliable people and Rebecca regularly has to diffuse personality conflicts amongst the pickers. Rebecca wants to hire a reliable workforce and provide a safe and healthy environment for the workers so that they’re keen to return each year to her family’s business.

“Just finding the right people in time for harvest and making sure they’ve all had the appropriate safety training, is always stressful,” Rebecca said.

“There’s got to be a better way.”

Rebecca is keen to develop a local workforce or at least a regular one, which can return every year to remove some of the stressors in her role. At 35, with a lifetime of horticulture experience and an agriculture and business degree behind her, she’s also ready to take more of a leadership role in the business. Rebecca also wants to restructure parts of the enterprise and develop new local and even international supply chains.

 But what do you do when the leadership team is too busy to listen? And what if they’re also your father, mother and older brother?

“We always seem to be chasing our tail, there’s never time to sit down and talk about where we want to be in five years or ten years, or what our roles are, or could be in the future,” Rebecca said.

When she brings her ideas up, a whole raft of other family and business issues get thrown into the mix and the conversation gets uncomfortable, quickly.

John Broons is a family business advisor and says the key to good communication is to always keep business issues separate and to run a very structured meeting, just as any business would.

He even suggests forming a ‘family charter’ to define the rules and values of the business.

“That set of rules is agreed to by the family. It’s not tied by law, but it’s agreed within the family and it can be changed.”

Mr Broons suggests the family charter should be reviewed every two or three years.

“It’s so the generations coming behind us have an understanding of where the family business has come from, but it also gives them the opportunity to make changes in the business.”

And while change can be hard and even uncertain at times – it’s an aspect of farming you can control.

Having systems in place to communicate effectively and make key decisions in the family business supports your farm business to be a more mentally healthy workplace for all involved.

MEDIA RELEASE: Campfire – Connecting primary producers to prevent mental health risks

It’s well known that farmers and fishers face a range of work-related challenges that put them at risk of poor mental health and suicide. While there has been a concerted effort to improve support for those experiencing poor mental health, a movement to prevent mental health risks—and therefore avoid a mental health crisis—has been gathering momentum at the National Centre for Farmer Health (NCFH).
 
NCFH Senior Research Fellow Dr Alison Kennedy stressed the importance of preventing risks to mental health for all primary producers: “Victoria’s primary producers (including farmers and fishers) are a vulnerable workforce. Many industries are undergoing significant transition—resulting in a wide range of work-related challenges that pose potential risk to individuals’ mental wellbeing. These challenges include an ageing and reducing workforce, rapidly increasing technological demands, exposure to a global marketplace, extreme environmental conditions and increasing uncertainty.”
 
These well-identified risks have triggered an important new project at the NCFH. The Primary Producer Knowledge Network (PPKN) was set up last year to develop a range of prevention strategies for reducing the risk of work-related poor mental health for farmers and fishers. One of the key differences with this project is the strong involvement of primary producers themselves in developing these strategies to make sure what is developed is helpful and relevant for farmers and fishers. As Dr Kennedy explains, “we have worked extensively over a 12-month period with a wide range of primary producers and stakeholders from across different farming sectors—including dairy, broadacre cropping, horticulture and livestock production—as well as the commercial fishing sector. This project is designed by primary producers for primary producers. ”
 
An innovative and exciting new web-based platform is now about to be launched as part of the PPKN. ‘Campfire’ serves farmers and fishers through (i) interaction with experts and peer networks, (ii) practical tools and resources, and (iii) solution-focused stories that address work-related challenges. The platform will help improve farmers and fishers systems of work to better manage the demands and challenges of primary production, and develop mentally healthy workplaces for owners/managers, workers and their families. ‘Campfire’ topics have been developed to address work-related risk factors to mental health including low job control, high job demand, low role clarity, poorly managed relationships and poor levels of support.
 
“This is all about finding solutions and practical ways for our farmers and fishers to take action,” explained Dr Kennedy. “Campfire brings primary producers together in a relaxed environment where people with shared interests can get together, listen to experts and peers, ask questions and pose solutions. Campfire will cover a wide range of topics from ways to work more effectively with family members and seasonal/contract workers, through to decision making, succession planning and knowing more about the experts that are out there to help us get through challenging times. The online Campfire will be lit each Tuesday – Thursday evening from 7.30pm, with a Bonfire event held fortnightly to hear from topic experts and ask questions.”
 
“We also know that not all producers will be interested or comfortable in an online environment,” said Dr Kennedy. “Because of this, Campfire will be supported by a range of complementary materials including podcasts, blogs, social media and hard copy resources. There is something for every primary producer. We will also be running a Victoria-wide roadshow over the coming months to showcase Campfire and highlight ways to build mentally healthy workplaces for farmers and fishers.”
 
More information about the Primary Producer Knowledge Network can be seen here: https://farmerhealth.org.au/campfire/primary-producer-knowledge-network.
The Campfire digital platform can be accessed here: https://farmerhealth.org.au/campfire

The Primary Producer Knowledge Network and the Campfire platform is being funded by the Victorian Government’s WorkSafe WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.
 
*** ENDS ***

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROJECT, PLEASE CONTACT: 

National Centre for Farmer Health:
Dr Alison Kennedy
Senior Research Fellow Deakin University
Phone: 03 5551 8533
Email: a.kennedy@deakin.edu.au

Farmer Health eNews May 2021

Find out the latest from the National Centre for Farmer Health

• Healthy and Sustainable Agricultural Communities (HMF702) Scholarship Applications are NOW OPEN!
• Have you tried our new Famer HAT?
• New Fact Sheet – Why Exercise Is Important
• Wellness Wednesday

View the May 2021 eNews

Read past issues of eNews

Do you want to receive our eNews?

Why exercise is important

As a farmer you will know that work never ends. Up at dawn and asleep later than most. Farming has always been considered one of the most physically demanding environments to work in. Although a lot of the workload is physical, research shows that many farmers don’t do as much physical activity as they used to.

It is also likely to be seasonal activity so you may not be quite as ’fit for purpose’ as you used to be. 

Farming can still be a physically demanding way of life but information shows that modern age farming is relying more on machinery, vehicles (rather than horses) and technology. This essentially means farmers are spending a lot more time sitting down.

The importance of exercise is no secret and it’s not specific to any one person or industry –everyone will benefit from daily exercise and movement. However, those who are spending most of the time sitting during the day are at a higher risk of serious health complications such as diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, mental health issues, and musculoskeletal aches and pains.

A study conducted by The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that when compared with people living in major cities and inner regional areas, people living in outer regional, rural and remote areas were more likely to engage in high risk health behaviours.

These high risk behaviours include:

1. Smoking
2. Poor diet choices and eating patterns (eg skipping meals)
3. Risky alcohol consumption
4. Not getting enough exercise.

Common Health Issues for Farmers

Physical Problems

The physical pressures put on the body when farming can put a lot of demands on the joints, spine, and nervous system. From lifting heavy objects, jumping up and down off machinery, and having to react quickly to animals, handling heavy animals (e.g. crutching sheep), and vibration from motor bikes can all pose a risk to your body.

Having a body that is strong and stable can help reduce injuries and help the body react safer and faster to any situation.

Poor Mental Health

Poor mental health and alarming suicide rates are the re-occurring theme throughout the communities affected by the drought, floods, fires and COVID-19. Tragically, Beyond Blue reports that the suicide rate in very remote areas of Australia is more than double that within our major cities.

Regular exercise has been found to have a profoundly positive impact on mental health. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts your overall mood.

A study found that exercise can be as effective as medication and psychotherapies. One way that movement can boost mood is by increasing a brain protein called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) that helps nerve fibers grow, making you feel happier.

The NCFH has also developed a number of support documents that you can access here.

Ageing Workforce

The average age of a farmer is now 57 years old. At this age it is expected to see an increase in conditions such as arthritis, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Keeping your physical and mental health in tip top shape as we age is vital to reduce age related concerns. Exercise can support every single part of our bodies fight off the effects of age!

If you are over 65, Exercise Right is offering subsidised exercise classes run by professionals to help you get more active and take control of your health. Click here for more.

Why exercise is important

Exercise relieves tension and stress, boosts physical and mental energy, and enhances well-being through the release of endorphins. Essentially anything that gets your body moving can help manage your physical and mental health.

It’s important to note that exercise doesn’t have to be in a gym or a custom-built facility, it can be as simple as a walk, stretching session, or using items around the house as weights.

Exercise should be seen as an opportunity to be able to perform every part of your job at the highest level. Exercise can help you avoid injuries, increase your work capacity and fight off work related health conditions and mental health.

Expert support

There are a range of different accredited exercise professionals who can support the rural and remote farming population. Accredited exercise physiologists are university training professionals who tailor exercise programs to suit your lifestyle and health condition. You can find your closest expert by clicking here.

Fast Facts:

• Doing any physical activity is better than doing none. If you currently do no physical activity, start by doing some, and gradually build up to the recommended amount.
• Be active on most, preferably all, days every week.
• Accumulate 150 to 300 minutes (2 ½ to 5 hours) of moderate intensity physical activity or 75 to 150 minutes (1 ¼ to 2 ½ hours) of vigorous intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both moderate and vigorous activities, each week.
• Do muscle strengthening activities on at least 2 days each week.
• If you already have an injury or health concern, talk to your GP or local Accredited Exercise Physiologist before undertaking any additional exercise.