PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Mental Health: Farming and Agricultural Communities - 11 November 2024 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

I am grateful to have secured a debate on the vital and pertinent issue of mental health in farming and agricultural communities.

It is sadly no exaggeration to say that we have a mental health crisis in our rural and agricultural communities. In January 2021, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution launched a large research project called the big farming survey. The audience of the survey was 15,000 farmers, contractors and their households, and its aim was to achieve a better understanding of the health and wellbeing of the farming community in England and Wales. The report found that the farming community has lower than average mental wellbeing compared with the wider UK population. A point of concern is that over a third of those who completed the survey had significantly low mental wellbeing scores. Worryingly, a similar number said that they were probably or possibly depressed, according to NHS thresholds.

I thank the hon. Member for giving way and congratulate her on securing this important debate. The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution’s big farming survey also found that 52% of farmers experience regular pain and discomfort, while one in four has mobility problems. Does she agree that we must recognise that physical health has an impact on mental health, and ensure that the NHS, GPs and mental health services are joined up?

The hon. Member, who is an excellent champion for farmers in her community, makes an important point on physical health.

I congratulate the hon. Lady, to whom I spoke beforehand, on securing the debate. The Ulster Farmers Union runs its “Mind Your Head” campaign every February to bring down the stigma attached to poor mental health in the farming sector. That is so important because research shows that 95% of young farmers in this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have concerns about their mental health. Does she feel that this matter should be considered not just in England and Wales, but across this great nation?

The hon. Member makes an important point: this issue impacts every part of our Union. I will refer to the impact on young people later in my speech.

To go back to the RABI survey, the report found that the farming community has lower than average mental wellbeing compared with the wider UK population. A point of concern is that over a third of those who completed the survey had significantly low mental wellbeing scores. Worryingly, a similar number said that they were probably or possibly depressed. Nearly half of respondents said that they were experiencing some form of anxiety. Tragically, one in five respondents knew someone who had attempted to take their own life. I remind the House that the survey had 15,000 responses, so that is a shockingly high statistic, and I hope that its gravity hits home with Members across the House.

Since the report was launched in January 2021, things have not become any easier for farmers and the rural community. Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and its consequences for energy and fertiliser prices, and for the flow of commodities such as grain and oilseeds, have caused farmers a great deal of concern. Economic factors such as inflation have also hit farmers hard, and like several places across the country, we in Cheshire have had a particularly bad year with regard to rainfall. Those problems all compound existing challenges, thereby putting a significant strain on farmers who are already under huge pressure.

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate and for giving way. Just last Friday, I visited a farm in my constituency. It is a family farm: David runs the construction side of the business, Robert runs the farm, and their sister Sharon runs the books. By any measure, it is a successful farm. That family has owned the property for a long period of time, but when they spoke to me, they talked—as my hon. Friend has said—about high energy costs, high interest rates, tougher international competition, tougher regulations on pesticides and the use of chemicals, and a volatile climate. Then, to raise the issue that was the subject of our last debate, they talked about the new rules on inheritance tax. Is it any surprise that many people in the farming industry feel stressed and under pressure, considering the policies introduced by this Government?

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue. The sector faces a wide range of challenges, and of course, the decisions that the Government are making will contribute in part to some of those challenges. Some are outside the control of all of us, the weather being one example.

I represent Chester South and Eddisbury, a constituency with a large rural area. Because of the nature of Cheshire’s ground and topography, dairy is the predominant mode of farming locally. That brings additional challenges through the risks of animal disease outbreaks, and their financial and emotional consequences.

I would like to take a moment to share some of the very real stories that demonstrate why I have asked for today’s debate, because behind every statistic is a personal story. There are families, loved ones, friends and communities who are deeply affected. Those of us who represent rural and agricultural communities know that the suicide rate among farmers is tragically high. Sadly, even in the short time that I have had the privilege of representing Chester South and Eddisbury, I have had examples in my constituency that have caused a great deal of pain to the families and the surrounding area. When something like this happens, it rocks a tight-knit community to its core, and the impact is felt by many.

Only last week, I heard of a tragic incident where a daughter found her father after he had taken his own life in one of the barns on their family farm. In a tribute, the daughter wrote of how her father worked so incredibly hard, and how proud he was to have increased the acreage and yield of the family farm during his stewardship. He was immensely proud of the operation he had built. His daughter summed up the vocation of farming in her online tribute:

“Farmers work harder and longer than most other trades and earn significantly less. We love what we do, or we wouldn’t do it. We feed the nation to the best of our abilities”.

I cannot begin to imagine what the families of those two farmers are going through, but as I said earlier, such cases are too common. Members from right across the House will have heard other stories like these in their own constituencies.

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way and for securing this important debate. On the vital issue of the tragedy of suicides among the farming community, I have met several farmers in my constituency who have felt that pressure—the common theme is that everybody knows somebody who has felt that pressure at some point, or sadly has even taken their own life. Does the hon. Lady agree that right across the House, we should agree to support farmers in whatever way we can?

I appreciate the hon. Member’s comments, and I am sorry to hear about the tragic instances in his constituency. We very much need to be collaborative to improve things for the farming community.

I am grateful to the hon. Member for mentioning those excellent organisations; I will note others later in my speech.

For all those reasons, this debate and the actions and commitments from the Minister are important. Women are an often overlooked group when we talk about rural mental health, particularly young women. There are inspiring examples of women who run farms and contribute a great deal to the agricultural sector. Of course, women are almost always involved in a farming operation, even if they are not always hands-on in the yard or fields.

My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. When I visited Pierrepont farm in my constituency, which has just been taken over by a new young female farmer, she talked about the stresses and problems that she is facing. They do not just affect young women, however, but families too; Mathias & Son Nurseries in my constituency equally has those problems. The issue that my hon. Friend is talking about affects established family farms and the new younger generation, and the policies of the new Government are hitting both equally. Does she agree that we need to look after the new young female farmers as well as our established family farms?

Absolutely; we know that mental health issues have an impact on people across the community. It is not just the individual who is directly affected, but those around that person.

The RABI survey found that women aged 24 to 35 had the worst mental health scores across the sample, so I ask the Minister to think about how policy can address that and how we can raise awareness of the mental health challenges facing all those in farming and rural communities.

I stress that there are some wonderful organisations, locally and nationally, that work hard to support our rural and agricultural communities and to provide support for mental wellbeing. I mention again the RABI and the role it plays in supporting farmers, and others such as the Farming Community Network and the Yellow Wellies’ “Mind Your Head” project, which help farmers when they need it most.

Those organisations, as good as they are, are not the long-term solution, nor can they find and prevent every tragic occurrence and consequence of suicide in the rural community. Any good doctor would say that prevention is better than cure. The cause of a significant amount of stress for farmers, particularly recently, has been Government policy.

I have just got off the telephone to a constituent from Yarcombe in Devon, who is a tenant farmer and is particularly anxious about agricultural property relief and the Government’s proposed inheritance tax changes. Does the hon. Lady agree that that is an appalling proposition?

I thank the hon. Member for sharing that. The impact of APR will be felt across the community. Unfortunately, in a community that is struggling with mental health, it is an extra blow.

Later, I will offer some thoughts on how we might better prevent mental health problems, but I will briefly mention a few other reasons why mental health issues are disproportionately higher in rural areas. First, there is the issue of isolation, which is multifaceted. It can be attributed to literal isolation, because farmers live in sparsely populated areas far from the nearest village; digital isolation, as they are without broadband or mobile coverage; and physical isolation from a lack of transport links. That issue keenly felt in my constituency, where many rural areas have little or no public transport connections.

A mixture of those forms of isolation means that people in rural areas, such as farmers, often suffer from loneliness. It is not easy for people to go to the local pub or café to talk to friends and neighbours when they live in the countryside. It is harder to get to those places, and harder to make time to socialise due to the demands of farming.

There is also the issue of rural reticence. There has historically been a stigma surrounding mental health; sadly, although we have made good progress in breaking down barriers and encouraging people to talk, there remains a reticence in rural and agricultural communities to talk about problems or feelings. It is not because of hubris or arrogance. Rather, the “I’ll manage myself” culture comes from a desire not to burden neighbours and friends who are also in the community, and will no doubt be facing the same challenges. I am confident that we can do more as a society to break down this barrier and encourage farmers to talk honestly and openly with one another.

My hon. Friend personifies the Conservative commitment to farms and farming, and she does so with style and acumen. The fear that she has described is exacerbated by the way farmers now face their customers: supermarkets are ruthless in how they deal with farmers. It is the fear that dare not speak its name; our farmers cannot speak, for those are the people to whom they sell their goods. Will my hon. Friend implore the Government to take a tougher line on the sharp practice of the big retailers in the light of its effect on farmers?

My right hon. Friend always makes such pertinent points. I know the importance he places on issues surrounding food security: he works extremely hard to highlight the challenges that farmers face all around them, and to ensure that they get a fair price from suppliers.

Mental health problems are also more prevalent in agricultural communities because of the volatility of farming. Farmers do not enjoy the luxury of stability and are vulnerable to shocks such as adverse weather and flooding, health issues within herds, such as bovine tuberculosis, and economic problems. Agricultural policy ought to create stability for farmers, not more uncertainty. I will speak more about that issue shortly.

There are many reasons why rural mental health is disproportionately worse, but I hope that the three I have mentioned give the House an idea of why I secured this debate. I have three asks of the Government; I hope that the Minister will be receptive and will commit to working alongside colleagues across the House and within Government to make real progress.

My first request is that the Government take an integrated approach. I humbly suggest to the Minister that that has been an issue with recent Government policy, particularly in relation to agricultural property relief. Ministers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should have been in the room when the decision was made to change APR. If they were in the room, their priority and their plea to the Treasury should have been the impact on family farms, food security and the local economy.

DEFRA Ministers should also be involved in many cross-governmental discussions. We need a joined-up approach whereby farmers and the rural community are consistently represented by Ministers who have their best interests at heart. Only then can we hope to see a policy that does not cause the agricultural community more concern, leading to further uncertainty and exacerbating the challenges. The decision on APR has once again brought rural mental health to the forefront. We have seen too many tragic stories in the papers. I hope that this is a wake-up call to the Government to start taking rural policy seriously, and not see farmers as a community to exploit.

My second ask of the Minister is that a specific strategy be put in place for young people who live in rural communities. Statistics show a significant uptick in mental health problems among young people, particularly after the pandemic, but many of the problems that I have outlined as compounding factors making rural mental health worse are even more prominent among younger people. Research conducted by Yellow Wellies shows that 95% of farmers under 40 believe that mental health is the biggest hidden problem facing farmers today. That is a shockingly high statistic.

We know that there is a shortage of young people entering the agricultural sector. That shortage is very often driven by the isolation of rural areas and by the lack of opportunity. If we want the countryside to thrive and farming to be a successful and attractive sector, we must do more to support young people. An important part of that is making sure that their mental health is in as good a place as it can be, so I ask the Minister to reassure the House that this will be a priority for him, and to meet me and representatives from the Cheshire Young Farmers’ Clubs to discuss how the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs can better understand the mental health pressures on young people in rural areas.

My final ask is that we make sure that farmers are at the centre of policy decisions that relate to rural areas and the agricultural sector. The ask is simple but very necessary. When the Government are formulating policy, I urge them to think of its implications and consequences. I ask them to think about the motivations behind the policy, and to remind themselves of the motivations behind our farmers’ work. They are motivated by service to our country, by providing food and caring for our countryside, and by being part of their local community, supporting friends and family, and working to support the local economy.

Farmers are part of the fabric of our country, the backbone of local economies and stalwarts in our communities. When Ministers feed into policy, I ask that they remember that and reflect the values of the rural and agricultural communities. If Ministers do that, we can go a long way towards improving mental health in areas where that is so desperately needed.

I thank the hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth) for introducing this very serious debate in such a calm and measured way befitting the seriousness of the subject. Let me start by extending my sincere condolences to all those who in recent times have lost loved ones, and to their friends, families and communities. Every suicide is a tragedy that has a devastating and enduring impact on families and friends. I absolutely recognise that farmers face challenges on many fronts, and we will do everything we can to safeguard the mental health of people working in the sector.

In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the importance of mental health in the sector, which I absolutely welcome; I agree with the hon. Lady’s comments about the impact on women, and we will continue to work with the full range of farming charities. I particularly echo her comments about amazing organisations such as the Farming Community Network and the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, and I very much recognise the points about the survey; indeed, the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) and I were on a panel discussing this very issue with Yellow Wellies last year. We are supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our farmers, and in the coming weeks I will invite charities and other stakeholders with expertise in this area to discuss how we can grow a better national support system for farmers.

I do not have much time, so I will not go into a whole range of detail, but extreme weather events, such as floods, and the pressure of disease clearly put additional stress on people; we fully appreciate that. We will continue to seek out opportunities to support people. Today I have agreed to continue the funding for the Farming Community Network, which supports communities affected by bovine tuberculosis; we are putting in place a three-year contract, starting on 1 December. That support began back in 2009, and it provides TB-affected farmers and their families with a national, free-to-access business and pastoral advice service. It has been successful, and we are very pleased to continue it.

Furthermore, we continue to provide funding for several organisations that will deliver projects to address these issues. The Farming Community Network, Lincolnshire Rural Support Network, the Farmer Network and You Are Not Alone are all in receipt of funding this year, and we will continue to work with third-sector organisations to keep delivering support into the future.

On suicide prevention, we are working across government to improve mental health and access to services. I pay tribute to everyone who is working to raise awareness, and I encourage those who are struggling to reach out for help. We recognise the points about isolation and difficulty in asking for help, so we are giving mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. We want everyone to be confident about accessing high-quality mental health support when they need it. I am pleased that we have announced that we will recruit 8,500 new mental health workers, who will be trained to support people at risk of suicide. The £10 million suicide prevention grant fund, which runs until March 2025, continues to provide funding to a range of voluntary and community organisations to support their work on suicide prevention.

The hon. Lady made good points about loneliness and isolation. Suicide is a complex, multifaceted issue, and loneliness and isolation are particular risk factors for people in rural areas, such as farmers and agricultural workers. We are committed to tackling loneliness, including by providing advice on loneliness as part of the “Better Health—Every Mind Matters” campaign. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport also supports organisations that can play a role in reducing loneliness stigma among men in particular, through the Tackling Loneliness Hub. That online platform connects professionals from across sectors working to reduce loneliness. I conclude by thanking the hon. Lady for bringing this important subject to the attention of the House.

I appreciate the Minister’s constructive comments, and some of the policies he mentioned that he put in place. As I noted, I want to raise the importance of the impact on young people in the farming industry, so will he meet me and Cheshire Young Farmers’ Clubs, so that young farmers can hear at first hand from the Minister and put questions to him on this issue?

I welcome the hon. Lady’s commitment to supporting young people. It is certainly one of my passions to ensure that we transform the system to make it easier for young people to come into farming and prosper. I am on a perpetual tour of the country, and I am sure that I can find a time and opportunity to meet her and her young people. I look forward to doing so.

In conclusion, the Government are committed to supporting farmers and agricultural workers in accessing the support that they need to protect their mental health and wellbeing. We will work to tackle loneliness and isolation in rural areas. We will ensure provision of high-quality, accessible mental health support. We are determined to support farmers as they do the vital work of producing food and looking after nature and the environment.

Question put and agreed to.