Farmers urged to reach out for mental health support
It's as many spend hours alone in their tractors bringing in crops
Farmers in North Yorkshire are being urged to reach out for support with their mental health.
During Harvest many will spend hours alone in their tractor. Sam Dilcock is a fruit and veg farmer near Selby:
"Machines are getting bigger and the people working on farms are getting fewer, so it can be quite difficult sometimes, especially at this point in the season to find time to talk to people."
"I think mobile phones and social media can be helpful for that. At least you can ring people and talk, but also they can be a huge distraction and I think especially for machine operators perhaps getting distracted by social media just that bit too long. You know, it's not always the most exciting thing driving up and down these fields quite slowly. It's quite easy to pick up that phone and miss something, although you do need to be talking to people."
"You are never on your own"
"It's just sort of finding out how they're getting on and we're always saying in farming you're never on your own. If somebody's struggling because yields are poor chances are the neighbours are and other people are. Sometimes getting a sounding board from those farms around you is really important to help you as well realise that perhaps a lot of what's happening this year perhaps isn't anything you've done wrong. It's just a result of the year and that's one of the challenges of farming . You're at the mercy of the weather and the seasons."
"I know we have to keep our head down and we have to keep going. But you need to talk to people if you can try and get regular night's sleep, eat properly, take some breaks in the day and above everything else, consider your own safety and the safety of others. Around you at this time, you know, it's very easy for things like that to lapse and nobody wants anything to end in a tragedy."
Links to help
If you, or someone you know is suffering with their mental health, or experiencing suicidal thoughts, you can speak to your GP. If someone's life is in danger - call 999 immediately.
You can also find help and advice from these services:
Hub of Hope - https://hubofhope.co.uk |newtab)
Samaritans – Call 116123 - https://www.samaritans.org