#Builiding Farm Spirit: Communities coming together

During tough times, communities often reveal their true strength. For many in our farming communities, 2023 was particularly tough, grappling with a multitude of challenges stemming from floods, climate uncertainty, high workloads, and various setbacks in critical farm operations. But among these challenges, communities rallied together.


When NCFH put out the call to farming communities to get people together, an army of energetic community volunteers stepped up to organise 60 community-driven initiatives, sponsored by the National Centre for Farmer Health through its #BuildingFarmSpirit campaign. The compassion, creativity, goodwill and drive of these remarkable women and men was truly inspiring. Each gathering held its own significance, blending casual discussion, shared experiences and a love of food, music and community spirit to provide a chance for many to get off the farm, encourage social connection and promote wellbeing during a challenging season.


Leaders of these events reported the profound impact of these gatherings, emphasising supportive conversations and friendships had a positive and protective effect on farmer wellbeing whilst strengthening community bonds. All events shared a common theme urging individuals to prioritise self-care and extend support to those around them.


Distinguished speakers like Warren Davies (The Unbreakable Farmer), Brad McEwan (Beyond Blue), Dr Rob Gordon (Psychologist) took the stage to challenge hard-working farmers to talk more openly about how they are coping with adversity and stress, encouraging openness to seek help when needed and to be brave enough to ask for it. The collaboration with NCFH, and various partner agencies like Community Health services, Rural Financial Counselling Services, Shires, and Agriculture Victoria, ensured the availability of essential resources for those who attended.


We invite you to watch our video on Farmer Perspectives (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvLn8Nc-RMk&&t=12s) on Flood Recovery to get a snapshot of some of the important lessons learned by farmers while tackling the challenges of 2023. A collection of podcasts featuring experts on flood recovery, are also available on the #BFS Webpage and can offer further guidance and support to you and your farming community.

What event organisers have said:

“People were glad to be able to have a frank and open conversation about mental health and be offered some advice on supports and tools to help. We really appreciate the funding from National Centre for Farmer Health to create this opportunity for our rural community to come together to learn and discuss mental health, particularly in our remote area where there are so many barriers to not only accessing adequate professional support, but also barriers to social connections and opportunities.”

“This was a fabulous opportunity for our community and was very well received by all that attended.”

“Thank you very much for supporting our community with this opportunity. Farmer mental health is such an overlooked problem, but its ramifications reverberate through rural communities”

Building Farm Spirit was a Flood Recovery program run by NCFH to support farmers’ mental health and wellbeing and was funded by the Victorian State Government through Agriculture Victoria.

Episode 22: “Lets Talk – How to check in on a mate”

LISTEN to campfire: episode 22

When you are concerned about how a farming friend, workmate or family member is going, getting them to talk about what is troubling them is the first step to finding solutions or getting help.

Knowing how to get that conversation happening is a great tool to have in your back pocket. Really listening to their response and keeping the conversation going over time could be a real gamechanger.

Now streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and here.

This podcast was created as part of the NCFH’s #BuildingFarmSpirit campaign with funding from the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions as part of the Victorian Government’s 2022 flood response.

LEARN MORE ABOUT #BUILDINGFARMSPIRIT #BuildingFarmSpirit | National Centre for Farmer Health

LEARN MORE ABOUT CAMPFIRE

Ageing on Farm: John Richards Centre for Rural Ageing Research Oration

“They want to stay until something catastrophic happens.”

According to farmer health expert Dr Susan Brumby, good planning is essential for the many farmers who want to live as long as possible on their farms.

Speaking at the John Richards Centre for Rural Ageing Research Oration on 25 October, Ageing on Farm, Dr Brumby provided practical advice to help farmers mitigate the issues that arise if catastrophe strikes or they need to move quickly into care.

“Look after your general health, know your numbers and make sure you have an emergency plan if you’re unwell, injured or impacted by disaster.”

“You can do things like register for My Aged Care, organise your powers of attorney, and sort out your finances, at least five years before you think you’ll need to.”

Dr Brumby was joined by a panel of experts in Albury-Wodonga to unpack the challenges facing the sector with the nation’s oldest workforce, farming.

La Trobe University’s Dr Clare Wilding said many farmers have to adapt how they farm and use their land, particularly when they don’t have a family member to pass the farm down to.

“Farmers are incredibly creative and resourceful.”

“After almost giving up after a drought then a flood, one farmer I spoke to was able to stay on her land by setting up a co-op, combining small micro-niche farming.”

“Another example is the Cultivate Farms initiative that matches older famers with a young aspiring farmers. It keeps the wisdom of older famers in rural communities.”

“We all want to remain engaged with what we love doing as we get older. For farmers, it’s no different,” Dr Wilding said. 

Dr Mary Johnson, fourth generation farmer and RMIT research fellow, said ageing on farm was complicated by climate impacts.

“People are in recovery all the time with no respite. This demands stronger public-private partnerships across sectors, including health, finance, agriculture and education, with regional communities having a strong voice in developing policy.”

The annual oration, moderated by La Trobe University’s Professor Lauren Rickards, was the first since business and community leader John Richards OAM passed away with the topic selected due to Mr Richards’ interest in improving the lives of older famers.     

Watch the recording here:

Farmer Health eNews November 2023

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Agventures of our farmer health team!

Our dedicated work team has been on an incredible journey this past month, crisscrossing the state to deliver essential services, engaging presentations, and informative workshops. Each stop on our journey has enriched our experiences and reaffirmed the importance of our mission.

October highlights for AgriSafe Clinic by Jeanne Van Der Geest Dekker

The highlight this month was to provide opportunistic care and education in the areas of PPE and needlestick injuries. PPE education was given to a farmer’s wife whose husband is solely responsible for the preparation and application of agrichemicals on farm.  She became better informed and aware of the need to purchase a ½ face respirator, nitrile gloves and safety goggles as practical items for her husband for Christmas. While ideally education to her husband would have been the preferred option influencing and empowering his wife is another way to influence better health practices on farm.

During a consultation needlestick injuries was a topic of discussion with a beef farmer who also works off-farm at Elders. In this case the participant was educated on ways to minimise the risk of needlestick injuries and the importance of treatment and first aid guidelines. I explained all adverse experiences must be reported to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (AVMPA) and referral pathways to surgeons who have had dealings with Gudair and Vibrovax needlestick injuries. Again, this is an example of opportunistic care of providing resources to influence better health outcomes for farmers who access veterinary products at Elders.

The true highlight for me was meeting a fellow farmer at the HILAC gym who is training for a natural body building competition.  He admitted this allowed him to get off farm whilst also engaging with others and in doing so, redirecting his attention to something else to reduce stress on farm. Typically, farmers are stereotyped for not being in tune with their health and wellbeing. This example demonstrates not all farmers or farmers should be stereotyped.

Final Project Wrap-Up for Community of Practice by Kelly Barnes 

The final wrap-up for the Agriculture-dependent Resilient Communities Community of Practice saw the project teams come together to share the wins and the challenges experienced during the past two years.  

Over these past two years, eleven project teams from across Victoria met online once a month to share knowledge and learn new skills to support the rollout of their community activities. 

We had a blast bringing everyone together in person to reflect on their achievements. It truly does take a village to build community resilience!

Elmore Field Days by Tracey Hatherell 

We collaborated with Agriculture Victoria, Primary Care Connect Shepparton, and Grain Producers Australia (GPA) to provide Health & Lifestyle Assessments to 37 farmers and rural community members at the Elmore Field Days. In addition, we were honored to have Australian cricketing legend Brad Hogg, a passionate advocate for mental health through GPA’s Farmer Mates program, share his personal stories. Brad works tirelessly to help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and suicide prevention.

One of the local Sheep and Beef farmers, Robert, expressed the immense value of the Health and Lifestyle Assessments we offer. He mentioned, “It is a valuable service – I went and had my eyes tested after having a health check here last year. My headaches have reduced and having hearing difficulty I can now enjoy watching TV as I can read the captions.” 

This testimonial underscores the practical benefits these assessments bring to individuals in the farming community.

FARMwell Working Dog Training Workshop by Tracey Hatherell 

We worked alongside Grampians Health/FARMwell Grampians Region to provide complimentary Health & Lifestyle Assessments to the exceptional farmers attending the St Arnaud Working Dog Training workshop.

We enjoyed meeting the farmers and of course loved meeting their four-legged mates.

Chatsworth House Pastoral Field Day by Sally Cunningham

In early October, attendance at the Chatsworth House Pastoral Field Day in SW Vic provided an opportunity for livestock and cropping farmers to expand their understanding of natural capital within the global economy, consumer trends, carbon and biodiversity markets, and their implications for individual farm businesses. The event emphasised the importance of building natural capital, fostering farm resilience, and improving profitability, while also addressing farmer mental health and wellbeing amid challenging farming conditions. Regenerative agriculture practitioners shared positive perspectives on these topics.

Take Control of What You Can Control by Sally Cunningham

Later in October, an invitation to present at a Grassland Society event in Hamilton titled ‘Take Control of What You Can Control!’ brought discussions on financial risk, fodder markets, pasture quality, and animal health. During this event, a brief presentation by Sally on ‘Learning to live with stress and uncertainty in farming’ focused on equipping farmers with skills to manage stress and minimise its detrimental effects.

Building Farm Spirit Funded Events by Sally Cunningham

As part of Flood Recovery Program, #Building Farm Spirit, NCFH has been allocating grants to community groups to run events that support farmer mental health and wellbeing in flood impacted communities. A further 12 events took place in October around the state, each providing a focus on wellbeing, access to NCFH resources. Some events included guest speakers on farmer mental health and others included farmer health checks or showed the video produced by NCFH earlier in 2023 Victorian Farmer Perspectives on Flood Recovery (Available on the #Building Farm Spirit webpage). A further 16 events are scheduled to run in November, bringing us to a total of 66 sponsored events in the last 12 months.

One of the #BFS events was particularly interesting as it focussed on celebrating multicultural communities working in agriculture in the Wimmera. It was an opportunity to share NCFH resources with Filipino farmers and farm workers and begin to explore ways of adapting these materials to Filipino and other culturally and linguistically diverse members of farming communities in Australia.

Alliance of Rural and Regional Community Health Conference by Cecilia Fitzgerald

Cecilia Fitzgerald, our business development and industry engagement manager, had the pleasure of attending the Alliance of Rural and Regional Community Health (ARRCH)’s inaugural conference at Creswick on Thursday 5 October.

Cecilia, along with Sue Crowther from Primary Care Connect, provided an overview of the NCFH’s four-year project “Scaling up Farmer Health Checks” which aimed to strategically prioritise delivery of farmer-focused health checks to Victorian farmers to enhance health, wellbeing and safety outcomes.

Sue spoke to the need for programs like AgriSafe being delivered in agriculture-dependent communities and Cecilia provided an overview of the project objectives, methods, outcomes, and challenges encountered, highlighting collaborative efforts that exemplify the dedication and commitment of partnerships to prioritise access to initiatives that support farmer health, wellbeing and safety.

Breathing Easy in Agriculture by Jeanne Van Der Geest Dekker and Tam Phillips

Tam and Jeanne hosted a ‘Breathing Easy in Agriculture: Protecting Respiratory Health in the Farming Environment‘ at the Gateway Health Family and Farm Wellbeing Day, where they provided valuable and practical information on how farmers could protect their lungs.

The presentation was well received, the audience was engaged with content and there was an expression of interest from the Hume Shire to present and deliver future workshops.

Fair and Ethical Sourcing Conference by Fair Farms by Dr Alison Kennedy

Dr Alison Kennedy presented at the Fair Farms Conference earlier this month on the work of the NCFH more broadly and the importance of preventing risks to mental health for farmers and farm workers.

How to Manage Stress by Prioritising Your Worries

Stress is a common part of farming life, and it can come from various sources – the weather, seasonal tasks, day-to-day work, relationships, finances, health, and more. A little stress is great to prompt you to get things done, but when it starts to take a toll on your mental and physical wellbeing, it’s essential to take proactive steps to manage it effectively. One useful strategy is to identify the sources of stress in your life and then prioritise them based on their importance and urgency. This approach allows you to focus on what truly matters and let go of the worries that don’t.

Identifying Stressors

The first step in managing stress is recognising the things that are causing it. These stressors can vary greatly from person to person. It could be looming farming deadlines, relationship conflicts, financial struggles, health concerns, or a combination of these and more. The key is to pinpoint the specific areas of your life that are generating stress.

Breaking Down Stressors

Once you’ve identified your stressors, it’s time to break them down into manageable chunks. This process involves categorising them based on two critical factors:

Importance: Determine which stressors are genuinely significant in the grand scheme of your life. Some things will be more critical than others. For example, a family emergency might be more important than putting a new gate latch on in the sheep yards. . 

Urgency: Assess the timeline associated with each stressor. Some issues require immediate attention, while others can be addressed over time. Getting the fungicide spray on your bean crop within the treatment window might be urgent, whereas replacing the internal fences on your out-block can have a more extended timeline.

Prioritising Stressors

With your stressors categorised by importance and urgency, you can now prioritise them effectively:

High-Importance, High-Urgency: These are the top priorities that need immediate attention. They demand your immediate focus and action. They might be stressors like a veterinary emergency with your stud bull, a job interview to employ a new cropping overseer before harvest starts, or drenching a mob of fat lambs that have come back with a high worm count.

High-Importance, Low-Urgency: These stressors are essential but don’t require an immediate response. You can plan and execute a strategy to address them in the near future, such as booking in the mechanic to service the tractor before sowing starts, or planning out the new cropping rotation with the agronomist for next season.

Low-Importance, High-Urgency: These stressors may seem urgent but aren’t vital. They can often be delegated or tackled with minimal effort. These might include minor tasks at work such as moving a mob of wethers onto a fresh pasture which can be delegated to the station hand or cleaning up the shearing shed kitchen ready for the shearers tomorrow. .

Low-Importance, Low-Urgency: These are the stressors that you can deprioritise or even eliminate from your list. They’re neither critical nor time-sensitive. Examples might include the heated words that were exchanged over the two-way when you were busy or washing out the chemical drums and taking them to the drum muster – it would be nice to get them tidied up but drenching the mob of fat lambs takes priority. .

Taking Action

Once you’ve prioritised your stressors, it’s time to take action. Focus on the high-importance, high-urgency stressors first, as they require your immediate attention. Break these tasks down into smaller, manageable steps, creating a plan to address them effectively.

For high-importance, low-urgency stressors, schedule dedicated time to work on them. Setting aside specific time slots in your calendar can ensure that you give them the attention they deserve.

For low-importance stressors, consider whether they can be delegated to others or if they can be postponed or eliminated altogether. Streamlining your to-do list can free up valuable mental space.

Managing stress is a crucial aspect of maintaining your overall wellbeing. By identifying, categorising, and prioritising your stressors, you can gain a sense of control and focus on what truly matters. This approach not only helps you reduce stress but also allows you to lead a more balanced and fulfilling life. Feel free to print out these guidelines or create your own template to break down your stressors into manageable chunks. Remember, taking control of your stress is a significant step towards a happier and healthier you.

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Battling Hay Fever on the Farm: Tips for Farmers

Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is a common immune response that affects many people around the world. It occurs when the body reacts to environmental allergens such as pollens, dust, mould, and animal hair. For farmers, this condition can be particularly challenging due to their constant exposure to these allergens. In this blog post, we’ll explore the different types of hay fever, common symptoms, causes, and most importantly, strategies for prevention and management.

Types of Allergic Rhinitis:

There are three main types of allergic rhinitis:

Seasonal Hay Fever: This type occurs during specific seasons when airborne allergens like pollen, dust, and mould particles are abundant. Spring is a common season for seasonal hay fever, as pollens are prevalent in the air.

Perennial Hay Fever: Unlike seasonal hay fever, perennial hay fever can affect individuals throughout the year. It is often triggered by indoor allergens such as dust mites, animal fur or skin flakes, and mould.

Occupational Hay Fever: For farmers, this type of hay fever can be a significant concern. It is linked to the exposure of allergens on farm, such as dust and animal hair. Farming tasks often involve direct contact with these environmental allergens, increasing the risk of developing hay fever.

Common Symptoms and Causes:

Hay fever can manifest through a range of symptoms, including:

Common causes of hay fever include:

When to Seek Help:

While hay fever symptoms can sometimes resolve on their own, seeking medical advice is essential if they persist and affect your quality of life. Pay particular attention if you experience fatigue, difficulty concentrating, working, or sleeping. Thick green mucus from the nose could indicate a sinus infection, which requires medical treatment.

Where to Get Help:

Don’t hesitate to seek medical advice and take proactive steps to protect your health while working in environments rich in allergens.  Consult your local pharmacist or GP for advice on medication.  It’s crucial to explain the nature of your work on the farm, as some hay fever medications may induce drowsiness, making it unsafe to drive or operate farm machinery.

Prevention and Management Strategies:

Hay fever can impact the quality of life for farmers.  It is important to identify the triggers and implement effective prevention and management strategies.

Here are some practical tips:

Hay fever can significantly impact the quality of life for farmers, but by identifying triggers and implementing effective prevention and management strategies, it’s possible to reduce its impact. Don’t hesitate to seek medical advice and take proactive steps to protect your health while working in environments rich in allergens.

To find out more, please visit our Hay Fever fact sheet here: Hay fever | National Centre for Farmer Health

Managing Farm Stress: The Importance of Your Personal Stress Inventory

An important and essential part of any farming business is inventory management – this can include livestock numbers, chemical supplies, supplementary feed, machinery parts, the list goes on! But to be able to manage all of these moving parts you also need to see how you are tracking personally. Keeping an eye on your farm stress inventory can be a really helpful way to identify what might be causing added stress and allow you to prioritise and work through the challenges.

Regularly checking in on your farm stress score, being aware of your stressors, and knowing that many stressors in farming are outside of your control can help you accept the things that are outside of your control and allow you to direct your energy towards problem-solving and addressing the things that are within your control.

Use the stress inventory checklist as a guide and you may wish to add other areas that are relevant to you.

This stress inventory checklist is included in our free Managing Stress on the Farm booklet. Download the booklet, or order the physical copy through the button below.

MANAGING STRESS ON THE FARM BOOKLET
NCFH-Managing-Stress-on-the-Farm-Booklet-STRESS-EVALUATION-PAGESDownload

Conversations and small changes drive safer farms – WorkSafe Victoria Media Release

The idea that a serious incident won’t happen to experienced farmers can be common in agriculture, but after responding to dozens of farm emergencies, paramedic Jess Shepherd wants farmers to know everything can change “in the blink of an eye.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxeuactAZQo&list=PL8jTfq7I4pEmxRB1g4YK-a7S5s7iLsdUp&index=2

Jess, who has been with Ambulance Victoria for 13 years, draws on her experience with farmers across Gippsland to have conversations about safer farm practices.

“We’re lucky enough to have that trust as soon as we walk in with this uniform, and I think that really helps when we give advice and when we express concern about safety,” she said.

In sharing her experiences as part of WorkSafe’s farm safety campaign, Jess reflected on one horrific incident involving an experienced farmer that has stuck with her.

“A piece of machinery came down on a farmer’s limb who had used the machinery hundreds of times before,” she said.

“When we arrived, it wasn’t bleeding profusely, but then as soon as the farmer let go of it, there was a lot of blood, and we could already tell that they would probably lose the limb.”

She later learnt the limb had in fact been amputated and they could no longer farm. This devastated her – a reminder that experience doesn’t make someone immune.

As WorkSafe’s emotive campaign, It’s never you, until it is, makes a return with new advertising across television, radio, print and digital media, it’s offering practical safety solutions for farmers and encouraging conversations around health and safety.

Tragically, three people in Victoria have been killed in the agriculture industry this year. This takes the number of agriculture deaths to 34 since 2019.

Communication and proactive safety measures can be the difference between life and death for Paul and Taylor Wallace who farm sheep at Ballangeich in the Western district.

“We take a proactive approach to safety. If something is broken, it can’t be used until it’s fixed. Things like making sure everyone knows that if they’re on the quad bike, they must wear a helmet,” Paul says.

“Common sense will only get you so far. Proper training and inductions for our staff must come into play because we can’t rely on common sense,” said Taylor.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Narelle Beer said every conversation about safety on farms helped shift the dial to prioritising safety.

“We’re working towards health and safety being a key part of farming operations, where raising concerns before they become larger issues and sharing beneficial safety advice are encouraged,” Dr Beer said.

“Things like good communication when working alone, checking in with yourself and others for signs of fatigue, prioritising maintenance and taking a minute to think through a job can all make a big difference for safety.”

Jess at Ambulance Victoria echoed these sentiments: “I’ve found that farmers are used to just pushing through and their bucket just fills up, drip by drip until eventually, the bucket overflows.”

“There should always be things in place to reduce the likelihood of…having that bucket overflow. Part of that is asking for help. Show the same concern for yourself as you would others.”

ACCESS The media release here

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Build ‘Em Up Podcast, Episode 28: Encouraging cultural competence

“When a farm man or woman comes into an ED with chest pain, ‘how long have you had it ’, is an important question,” says Susan Brumby, Clinical Professor of the Faculty of Health, School of Medicine at Deakin University. “Often they have continued to work or do things before coming in,” she added.

Professor Brumby joins the Rural Health Alliance in Episode 28 of Build ‘Em Up to speak about the importance of health professionals’ cultural competence to deliver the best health outcomes for farm people. She speaks about the risks and challenges of farming, along with its great beauty, the autonomous nature of farm work and its impact on health and wellbeing.

Professor Brumby is the Founding Director of the National Centre for Farmer Health and an Associate Editor of the Australian Journal of Rural Health. She has made significant contributions to research and service delivery methods for engaging farm men and women in discussion about their health, wellbeing and safety.

Professor Brumby has received numerous awards recognising her contribution to rural health and has attracted over $3 million in grants and service delivery funding. In 2005, she received the Department of Human Services Award for outstanding contribution to rural health and in 2006, a Victorian Travelling Fellowship. In 2009, she was recognised with the Victorian Regional Achievement and Community Career and Trade Development Award.

Listen to the podcast here