Depression and

Anxiety Rife Among Farmers

New research shows close to a third of Australian farmers reporting a decline in their mental health over the past few years, affected by depression and anxiety.

The National Farmer Wellbeing Report commissioned by Norco in partnership with the National Farmers’ Federation has found that in recent years, 45 per cent of farmers have felt depressed and 64 per cent have experienced anxiety.

For 14 per cent, it is a frequent experience.

Thoughts of self-harm or suicide have come to 45 per cent of farmers, while 30 per cent have attempted self-harm or suicide.

Existing bodies of research by the National Rural Health Alliance have found that one farmer commits suicide every 10 days and Australian farmers are twice as likely to commit suicide when compared to the general population.

More than a quarter of farmers, 27 per cent, say feelings of loneliness or isolation, combined with limited access to mental health services have had the biggest impact on their mental health over the past five years.

According to the Report, the top three factors impacting farmer mental health were weather or natural disasters (47 per cent), financial stress (36 per cent) and inflation and cost pressures (35 per cent).

Quantifying the impact across the country, it also found that 88 per cent of Australian farmers have had their farming operation significantly impacted by natural disasters over the past five years, with an average cost of $1.4 million per farm.

When asked what was most emotionally taxing about the experience, 54 per cent cited the financial burden, followed by the impact on animals and loss of stock (39 per cent), and the physical rebuild and recovery process (37 per cent).