Opinion: It’s time to start talking about the menopause

What has happened to Mother Nature recently? The weather behaviour we used to recognise has all but disappeared.

Gone are the days when she would skip happily into spring, sending warm sunshine and light showers to nurture tender crops and baby lambs.

Or follow on with hot dry summers, and long spells of sunshine so we could gather crops and stock our sheds for the winter.

See also: Opinion – losing Dad made me extra careful about farm safety

Autumn and winter were once like clockwork, with the arrival of Jack Frost to crisp the leaves and a dusting of snow to cause chaos for the milk tanker.

Now it’s erratic and unpredictable – storms and torrential rain in a morning can turn to sun and a gentle breeze by lunch.

Fluctuating temperatures can have us wrapped up in multiple layers one minute and stripping off the next.

Then, just to add insult to injury, she will throw in a savage hailstorm and send us all running for cover.

Her unpredictably is certainly challenging all farmers. Especially at present when, dare I say it, some of us are crying out for rain.

I have my own theory about Mother Nature. I think she’s going through the menopause.

The telltale signs are there – hot flushes, irrational behaviour, unpredictably, irritability, brain fog and mood swings.

You name it, she’s got it, and she’s taking her frustration out on us.

About the author

Cath Morley

Cath Morley grew up on a mixed livestock farm in Derbyshire. She now lives and works on a Lancashire dairy unit with her husband, Chris Halhead. They milk 150 cows with three robots and rear all their own replacement heifers.

Read more articles by Cath Morley

Collectively, women now make up a third of the agricultural workforce in Britain, and that number is rising and menopause will affect every single one of us at some stage.

So it’s time we opened up the conversation and stopped suffering in silence.

In recent years we’ve broken down many barriers around health within our industry – stigmas related to mental health have been eroded and farmers everywhere are learning that sharing their experiences is beneficial and can encourage others to seek help.

Menopause can trigger depression and anxiety, it causes muscle and joint pain which can make everyday tasks seem like conquering Everest.

There’s also palpitations and sleep deprivation to cope with. Symptoms can be mild in some, but life-changing in others – and the lack of compassion and understanding for women who struggle is astonishing.

Being labelled grumpy or moody and not feeling remotely like the person you once were hammers your self-esteem, making you feel like a shadow of your former self.

Throw into the mix the physically and emotionally demanding job of farming, and it’s no wonder lots of us reach breaking point.

For men, it can be really difficult to navigate.

Not being able to connect with the person they share their lives with and always being “in the dog house” can make our partners feel that working from dawn till dusk to keep out of the way is the best solution.

I can safely say, it probably isn’t! Understanding what’s happening, arming yourself with information and being supportive is a better course of action.

We’re all guilty of putting our health and wellbeing at the bottom of the list.

There’s always something more important to do, but a functioning, productive and profitable farm needs its workforce to be happy, healthy and physically fit.

Unfortunately, though, if Mother Nature doesn’t sort herself out, we’ll all be in trouble.

So, metaphorically speaking, let’s hope she gets herself to the doctor and starts taking HRT as soon as possible.