Farmers urged to look after health

Farmers are encouraged to lead healthier lifestyles through regular exercise and a healthy diet in an initiative launched by FMG and the Mental Health Foundation.

Glenda Gray, a farmer and supporter, said the programme, Farm Strong, had the tagline “live well farm well”.

“So our mental health and physical health is extremely important in us being able to farm well.”

Those in a “good physical and mental space” can make smarter decisions, Gray said. “Those decisions will impact your life and all those around you.”

Mental Health Foundation consultant Gerard Vaughan has been the project manager for the initiative for the past 18 months.

Funding came from the Movember Foundation. Farming companies were eager to get involved and then FMG invested funds as well, and formed a partnership with the Mental Health Foundation to deliver the programme.

The project included interviewing more than 400 farmers and 20 farming organisations. When they surveyed farmers, they found issues included not getting time off the farm, not getting breaks and coping with a big work load. This could lead to a build-up of stress for farmers not managing their sleep and getting fatigued.

The farmers wanted the programme to be practical, to obtain tools so they could adapt it to the work place and live a healthier work-life balance.

Vaughan said the interviews showed farmers listen to other farmers.

“The insight from that is we’re growing another network of farmers to be the carriers of this information. It’s a farmer to farmer programme.”

Vaughan said the message of the Farm Strong programme is to “put yourself in the business plan. You have a business plan for your stock, machinery, and management for looking after the land. Put your health as part of the business plan. If you fall over your business will fall over.

“So when you’re doing your business plan, also plan for: when am I going to get my breaks, exercise, how am I going to spend time with my friends and family? Because we know those are the things that will be protective of your wellbeing and help you through the difficult times.”

The physical challenge initiative, which started on June 1, involves Farm Strong trying to get farmers to ride 4 million km in one year. The goal is that if every farmer in the country rode, ran or walked just 70 km, the goal would easily be met.

To promote this idea, and to keep rural New Zealand physically and mentally healthy, a Rural Cycle Tour is being held between 18 March and 2 April 2016, to ride a distance of 1500 km.

Go to the website at www.farmstrong.co.nz to pledge kilometres, and commit to getting fitter and healthier over the next 12 months or to learn more about the programme.