Around one in five farmers rate their mental health as being poor or extremely poor, according to a new comprehensive independent survey.
The survey commissioned by Agriland and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) was conducted by Opinions Research last week with more than 1,500 people who class themselves as the ‘decision makers’ on the farm.
Six in 10 farmers said that they are concerned about the future viability of their farm enterprises.
Seven in 10 farmers claim that their farm income has decreased in the past 12 months (with a third claiming that it has decreased by over 20% in this period).
Mental health
The survey findings show that Irish farmers are more likely to rate their mental health (18%) as poor or extremely poor compared to their physical health (11%).
The analysis showed that those involved in dairy, tillage or beef are most likely to rate their mental health as poor or extremely poor.
The survey shows that stress and overwhelm were the emotions most frequently experienced by farmers over the past two weeks.
Nearly four in ten farmers said that they have been troubled by these emotions always, regularly or often in this period.
These negative emotions were most frequently experienced by those involved in a dairy (27%) or tillage (29%) farm enterprise.
In March, a study from Dublin City University (DCU) found that around 24% of Irish farmers are suffering from burn out.
The research found that half of farmers reported widespread sleep issues.
Burnt-out farmers and those with sleep issues said that they had worse mental and physical health.
The DCU study showed that older farmers and those with children were especially at risk of burnout.