Morpeth farmer speaks out about importance of good mental health as part of Mind Your Head' campaign

Annabella Baker had to give up what had been her “dream job” in 2020, after overseas holiday travel was halted around the world.

The Italian, who has been living in Morpeth for 20 years, was worried being out of work would leave her depressed so to fill her time during lockdown and improve her mental well-being, the 54-year-old took a job at Morwick Dairy Farm in Acklington.

And after 18 months of working with cattle, she started to realise why farmers’ mental health is such a growing concern.

She said: “What I notice is that farmers who work so hard are underappreciated.

"They work long hours every day – whether it be Christmas, New Year – because animals need them every day.

"There’s also rural isolation – a lot of farmers work by themselves – and a stigma attached to mental ill-health. So it’s difficult for a strong man to talk about his mental problems and mental issues because he feels embarrassed or ashamed.

“And it’s also difficult for family members to spot signs that someone is distressed because they never see them.

"The farmers are always at the farm and they go home for dinner and don’t talk much because they’re tired.”

Annabella has decided to speak out as part of this year’s ‘Mind Your Head’ campaign, run by the Farm Safety Foundation.

According to recent research, 94% of UK farmers under the age of 40 rank poor mental health as the biggest hidden problem facing farmers today.

There is also a collective acknowledgement that levels of mental health in the agricultural sector are deteriorating. In 2021, there were 36 suicides in England Wales in the farming and agricultural industry.

Now working at Mole Valley in Alnwick, Annabella said she wanted to add her voice to the Mind your Head campaign, which aims to encourage farmers and their families to safeguard their physical and mental well-being.

The campaign has run for six years but is probably more relevant now than ever, due to continued uncertainty surrounding Brexit, a global pandemic, supply chain shortages, the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis.

The Farm Foundation has written The Little Book of Minding Your Head, which contains a directory of all the national farming charities and rural support groups across the UK, together with contact details and hours of opening.

More than 16,000 copies of the publication have been printed and distributed throughout the UK so far, and an expanded 88-page fifth edition will be released this week in print.

A preview can be viewed online at www.yellowwellies.org

Annabella said: “There is a book directed to the farming industry, which can hopefully be the start of a conversation between farmers and between families. I hope that it is a good starting point.”

To follow The Farm Foundation on social media, go to @yellowwelliesUK on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, using the hashtag #MindYourHead.