A new study has laid bare the mental health challenges farmers across the UK are facing, leading researchers to call for urgent attention to mental health services in rural areas.
The study, carried out by Cranfield University, found that there were increased levels of self-reported stress, anxiety, depression and suicidal feelings among farm workers during the Coronavirus pandemic. Farmers are considered essential workers and some have been shown to have poor mental health as a result of being relatively isolated physically, socially and culturally, according to the study.
When the pandemic hit the UK, farmers were already facing substantial uncertainty around transitions away from the EU's Common Agricultural policy. And Richard Rankin, CEO of H and H Group, which owns Wooler Mart, says that is not the only uncertainty that farmers face.
