Editor’s View: Why taboo over farming’s pain needs breaking
© CPhanuwatNandee/iStockphoto Farmers have always prided themselves on being tough, with whole identities built on endurance, self-reliance and getting on with the job without making a fuss.
These are admirable qualities, and part of what makes farming communities resilient and dependable. But when it comes to physical health, those same strengths can become a double-edged sword.
On farm, physical decline has direct economic consequences.
See also: Level the Field survey reveals widespread physical challenges
About the author
Admitting you are struggling – through injury, illness, disability or a chronic condition – can feel like admitting failure. In a sector where your body is one of your most important tools, the fear of being seen as weak or incapable is powerful.
So pain is worked through. Injuries are downplayed. Long-term conditions are endured in silence. And over time, this becomes normalised.
Talking about physical health – the slow accumulation of bodily strain, damage and limitation – becomes taboo.
Our latest Level the Field survey shows how urgently that needs to change.
One respondent described developing an addiction to painkillers just to get through the working day.
Others spoke of being labelled “grumpy men” to be avoided by their communities or families. In reality, they were lashing out because they were in constant pain and didn’t know how to stop it.
What struck me most was how long it seemed this pain had gone unspoken, perhaps never said out loud before. And yet the scale of the issue is impossible to ignore.
Half of respondents are living with a physical condition that affects their ability to farm. And 60% have stopped or reduced tasks entirely, with some stepping back from whole enterprises.
More worrying still, 42% said they have felt unsafe carrying out a task because of a physical limitation. In the UK’s most dangerous occupation, that should ring alarm bells.
None of this is sustainable. An ageing workforce dealing with serious physical health challenges affects productivity, safety, succession planning and, ultimately, the wider food supply chain.
And yet, “sustainability” is still discussed as if it is purely environmental. But it is not just about soils and carbon. It is also about people.
Farmers themselves are clear about what would help: more staff, better equipment, funding for adaptations and greater flexibility in how work is organised.
These are practical solutions. But three-quarters of respondents had never heard of existing support, and 55% do not believe the industry does enough to support older or physically limited farmers.
The ongoing silence on this topic is a taboo we need to break.
Not by blaming farmers for being stoical, but – first and foremost – by acknowledging that physical decline is part of a long farming life.
If we are serious about safety, sustainability and the future of farming, physical health can no longer be the thing we don’t talk about.