What do you think about when you think of farmers? Do you think about the food they provide for you, or the competition, the economic difficulties such as the cost-price squeeze they have to overcome; or the trading complications such as market access and unfairness in international trade regulations?

To be truthful, most of us probably do not really think that deeply about farmers at all, and if we do, it may be more about them having to contend with adverse weather events, especially if we are experiencing either devastating drought or flooding in our region.

What is rarely discussed, probably because it is not really understood, is the psychological and emotional challenges that farmers have to face, especially during times of extreme stress such as during a drought or diseases such as avian flu or mad cow disease.

When there is a drought in the land, farmers must watch helplessly while their cattle suffer and their crops wither away. When this happens the farmer not only suffers great emotional and financial loss, but also does not earn an income – a double whammy!

Without an income the farmer cannot service production loans and the high level of debt they often own on land -this can take a farm from being financially secure one year to being ruined the next.

Farmer-suicide rates escalate across the globe during times of drought. In India, for instance, there have been in excess of 270 000 farmer suicides since 1995 – that is 22 500 suicides annually, or in excess of 61 suicides per day!

Farmer suicides in Ireland increased after an unusually wet winter in 2012; the farmer suicide rate increased 10 times in the UK during the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001; and the suicide rate among farmers in Australia reached an all-time high following two years of drought from 2012 to 2014.

The suicide rate amongst farmers generally tends to be higher than in any other occupation, possibly due to the fact that farmers and their families often live in isolated areas and might not have much social interaction, or that they tend to be extremely self-sufficient and independent, and therefore find it extremely difficult to seek help when they really need it, or perhaps it has to do with pride.

Whatever the reason, the next time you think of a farmer, think about the fact that they work really hard to provide for you, and appreciate them.

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