Evy Mettepenningen
The mental well-being of farmers has been under pressure for a while. A recent study by the Belgian Agriculture and Fisheries Agency shows that well-being among Flemish farmers has been systematically declining over the past decade and is lower than that of the average Flemish person. What about farmers-to-be, the new generation of young farmers considering taking over a farm? Julie De Smedt, a student at the Agro- and Biotechnology faculty of the Belgian college Odisee studied the subject.
On November 28, the Flemish government held its annual networking day around mental wellness in agriculture. The event was kicked off with a poingnant testimony by Annelien Jonckheere, a psychologist working at the Flemish organisation for farmer support and well-being Boeren op een Kruispunt (“Farmers at the crossroads”, red.), who talked about a young farmer who sought help upon the insistence of his loved ones. The uncertainties regarding licensing, combined with high expectations from the previous generation, towering debts due to investments and other risks that come with the profession can lead to such cognitive overload that farmers can’t dig themselves out on their own. Boeren op een Kruispunt was founded to help Flemish farmers with their administration, fincances and mental health. Organisations such as Boeren op een Kruispunt are available all over the world to help farmers: think of Do More Ag in Canada.
In Flanders, the Seeds of Happiness program was launched last year: a project that was nominated for an Agricultural & Rural Inspiration Award by the EU CAP Network. The program offers tools to students in agriculture formations for preventative mental health care. Those tools were tested by the Odisee college. One of the participants in the test program was Julie De Smedt, an agricultural student and daughter of beef cattle farmers. The theme of the program inspired her to the point of wanting to write her undergraduate thesis about farmers’ mental health. Her thesis became an exploratory study of the mental well-being of young farmers, between the ages of 16 and 35, who are considering taking over a farm. With the help of the Flemish young farmers’ organisation Groene Kring, a questionnaire was distributed among educators. Ninety-six people completed the questionnaire. However, the questions that dealt specifically with mental well-being were only completed by about half of the respondents. A deafening silence that is symptomatic of the problem.
Although this is an exploratory study, with a limited number of respondents, there are great similarities to the recent Agriculture and Fisheries Agency study regarding the stressors experienced by farmers. In both studies, policy appears to be a significant contributor to the stress experienced by farmers, with the top three stressors in the Odisee study being the impact of natural, environmental and climate policies on the farm to be taken over, agricultural policy support for the future farm, and administration on the future farm. The same stress factors, but related to one’s own (i.e., already acquired) business, are found in the top three in the Agency’s study. The results are also similar to the problems cited by already active farmers in terms of obstacles experienced by prospective farmers in taking over: government restrictions, administrative burdens and regulatory complexity.
An important difference between the two studies is the extent to which people refer to the factors mentioned as obstacles or stressors. In the Odisee study, with a younger target population, these barriers or stress factors are indicated more often than in the Agency study. This trend is also seen within the Agency’s own study: the younger the farmer, the higher the scores on stress factors and perceived barriers. This is confirmed in the literature: young people often have an even lower understanding of stressful situations than more experienced farmers and have less experience dealing with stress. Moreover, young people experience higher performance pressure, experience higher uncertainty about their future and also have higher expectations, e.g., for a good work-life balance.
However, a comparison of the Odisee study with the Agency study does show that the younger farmers in the Odisee study reported fewer symptoms due to stress, such as physical complaints (headaches, backaches, palpitations…), overtiredness and irritability. Despite the higher stress young farmers seem to experience, their self-reported satisfaction with life is higher: an average of 7.18 out of 10, versus 6.5 out of 10 in the Agency study. In the latter study, we do see this self-reported life satisfaction increase with age: young, active farmers score lower than older farmers.
Likewise, despite the higher levels of stress experienced by would-be young farmers, they are not necessarily more likely to seek help than the older, active farmers in the agency’s study. However, they do score higher on the statement “in case of personal problems, I know where to find the right help.” 50% also indicated that they handle stress differently than their parents, but in the open-ended responses to that question, answers vary from “my father is better able to handle stress because of his experience” to “unlike my parents, I don’t work out my frustrations on other family members, but turn them into positives.”
Odisee’s exploratory study of prospective young farmers gives an indication that mental well-being among prospective farmers is a major concern, and that initiatives such as the Seeds of Happiness program are needed to support this group. Because, although farmers face a lot of external stressors, they have some control over their own happiness. The many initiatives presented at the networking day indicate that they are not alone in their struggles. Flemish Minister of Agriculture Jo Brouns concluded the networking day by stating his intention to work to improve legal certainty, increase appreciation for farmers and access to land, and reduce administrative burdens during his tenure (with the election of farmer Anne-Catherine Dalcq as Minister of Agriculture in the south of the country, we can rest assured that the Walloon farmers have an ally as well, red.). With only 12% of Flemish farms having a successor, the Minister’s declaration is a lifeline.
If you need to talk to someone, please contact a farmers’ wellbeing association near you.
A list of initiatives:
Netherlands – Zorg om Boer en Tuinder
Canada – National Farmer Mental Health Alliance
Canada – Do More Agriculture Foundation
Do you know of a mental health association for farmers in your area? Please let us know so we can include their contact info in this article and help more farmers around the world.
*Seeds of Happiness was developed by an Operations Group consisting of: Vlaams Instituut gezond Leven vzw, ILVO, Boeren op een Kruispunt, Odisee, Groene Kring & Jong-ABS. The project came about with support from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the European Innovation Partnership (EIP).
This article was previously published in our Belgian magazine Hectares
This article was published in Women in Ag Mag 2024-004. Click here to read the magazine
