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All articles about Health and wellbeing

Farmers’ physical and mental health and wellbeing are often pushed to one side as the important tasks of managing a busy arable or livestock farm take over. See ideas to help you keep fit and healthy on the farm and combat rural isolation and stress.

Advice and tips

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Considering a new future: Ways to deal with farming pressures

It is no secret that stress and poor mental health are endemic among the people who make their living from the land. As the UK moves away from direct farm…

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Holistic farmer wellbeing health check: How are you really?

Farmers are notorious for spending more time thinking about their livestock, costs and crops than their own happiness and wellbeing. This is perhaps best explained by agriculture’s long history, slight…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Coronavirus: Advice for managing and keeping staff safe

Farmers may be wondering how to best protect their staff during the coronavirus outbreak. We asked Oliver Dale, managing director at Safety Revolution, and Sophie Walker, business manager at the…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Advice on solving farmer lameness, joint and foot ailments

A hobble is an unwelcome rite of passage for many farmers as they transition from youth to older-middle age, but just as lameness is preventable in livestock so too is…

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Case studies

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Video: Son's death leads family to back mental health charity

The parents of a 22-year-old farmer who took his own life are urging youngsters facing a similar situation to seek help and support. Leonard Eadon, from Napton, in Warwickshire, died…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Britain's Fittest Farmer 2021: 4 strong women's entries

Farmers Weekly's popular health and wellbeing competition, Britain's Fittest Farmer, is attracting entries from across the country.  There's still plenty of time for you to enter the contest if you're…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Fit2Farm: How a better work-life balance benefits farm

Achieving a better work-life balance is top of the list for Britain's farmers – many of whom are working long hours with little time off. The average farmer works 65…

PAYMENTS, SCHEMES AND GRANTS

Video: Exmoor group tackles farm support and rural isolation

The unique and thriving farmer-led Exmoor Hill Farming Network has grown to support 300 local farming businesses since it began four years ago under the guidance of chairman Dave Knight…

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Community

COMMUNITY

RSABI launches new mental wellbeing app for farmers

A new app offering free mental health care and advice to farmers, is being rolled out by the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI), following 12 months of trials with…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Farm Doctor: Let's talk about prostate and testicular cancer

Handlebars, chevron, walrus, or pencil? Whatever shape of moustache you’re sporting this Movember, it’s a time to ditch the razor and get everyone talking about men’s health. One of the…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Surviving heart attack: Reading Farmers Weekly saved my life

A Cumbrian farmer has survived a heart attack having recently read our article in the Farmers Weekly monthly "Farm Doctor" series, covering the signs to look out for and the…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Young farmer campaigns for more rural defibrillators

Nottinghamshire young farmer Sophie Owen, 22, is on a mission to educate farmers and businesses about heart health after tragically losing her father to cardiac arrest in 2019. Sophie says…

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Insights

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Why farmers should prepare for and discuss health issues

Matthew Berryman’s role as a farm consultant sometimes involves getting clients to address topics they would rather not talk about. “When I raise the subject of wills and lasting powers…

SUCCESSION PLANNING

Why poor succession planning can impact mental health

Numerous aspects of farming can negatively impact upon mental health, but the one many might not have drawn a line to is the eternal pressures surrounding succession. Though succession is…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Analysis: The grim state of mental health in agriculture

Women, farmers who keep livestock and those running smaller enterprises are the most likely to be struggling with their mental health, results from the recent Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution’s (Rabi)…

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News

LIVESTOCK

Northern farmers urged to 'control the controllables'

Stressed out farmers should accept what they can and cannot control and act on factors within the farmgate to manage their business and protect margins.   Pressures of falling subsidy…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

MPs accuse government of complacency on rural mental health

A committee of MPs has accused the government of having a “worrying degree of complacency” on rural mental health issues. The cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Len's Light campaign heads to Harper Adams University

More than 100 students and guests have attended a mental health awareness day at Harper Adams University, hosted by 2023 Farmers Weekly’s and NFU farming champions Andy and Lynda Eadon…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Farmers and farmworkers taking less holiday, survey shows

People working in the agricultural sector are taking less time off as annual leave, according to a national survey of more than 122,000 workers across various sectors of the economy.…

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Opinion

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Farmers offer their younger selves some pearls of wisdom

The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing, and everyone makes mistakes. We can all learn from each other, too. With this in mind, Farmers Weekly and rural charity The…

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Video

Video: Britain's Fittest Farmer 2022 - meet the winners

The winners of Britain’s Fittest Farmer have been crowned after battling it out at the finals in Essex. The competition was fierce, the camaraderie strong, and our four winners get…

Video: Britain's Fittest Farmer 2022 - the qualifiers

Competitors from across the country converged on Adam Henson’s Cotswold Farm Park for the qualifying rounds of Britain’s Fittest Farmer.  The Gloucestershire venue saw almost 60 entrants battle in out…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Video: Son's death leads family to back mental health charity

The parents of a 22-year-old farmer who took his own life are urging youngsters facing a similar situation to seek help and support. Leonard Eadon, from Napton, in Warwickshire, died…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Video: Britain's Fittest Farmer 2021 - the final

The competition was intense, but two winners have now been crowned in Farmers Weekly's iconic initiative, designed to spark a discussion about mental and physical health in the countryside. Erica…

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