It’s always busy on farm but calving can bring extra stresses for farmers. The Co-op recognises the importance of wellbeing and has a range of support mechanisms in place to help make life a bit easier for farmers and their families.
On average, each month six farmers access the Co-op’s Employee Assistance Programme. This is a professional and confidential counselling service provided by an independent company, EAP Services. Fonterra funds the service for Fonterra employees, farmers, and farm workers to help those who are experiencing any personal or work-related difficulties.
Since 2022, the Co-op has had a strategic partnership with Rural Support Trust and over the past year more than $50,000 has been raised for the Trust through the Farm Source Charitable Giving programme.
The Rural Support Trust works one-on-one with farmers to help them through challenges and can provide referrals to additional support services such as counselling services, medical support, financial information or advice, and farming or business and employment advice.
The Rural Support Trust also runs events providing access to wellbeing and resilience services to rural families nationwide. Over the past year more than 2,900 people have attended the Time Out Tour events, sponsored by Fonterra.
Rural Support Trust Regional Coordinator for Bay of Plenty Jodie Craig recently ran a workshop with Farm Source staff covering the support available for farmers and the importance of mental health wellbeing.
“Everyone has mental health, just like everyone has physical health. Sometimes factors can negatively affect the balance including sudden negative changes and events, lack of justice (or perceived justice), lack of life balance, relationship problems, or poor physical health. Adverse events are particularly problematic and we’re seeing these occur more. It’s important to realise what you can control and what you can’t,” she says.
“Farmers are traditionally a staunch group and are often too busy on farm to recognise that they’re under stress and may need support. It’s particularly difficult to get time off from calving to deal with stress. The good news is that there is a lot of support available. Sometimes you need to chat with someone who gets your issues, someone who’s been there before. This is where Rural Support Trust fits in.”
Warning signs of unhealthy stress during calving include:
- Extreme fatigue – struggling to get up for milking or calving
- Difficulty making decisions and triaging problems on farm
- Feeling ‘wired’ all the time and not able to switch off
- Forgetting things
- Suddenly finding you have a short fuse when dealing with people and animals on farm
- Forgetting to eat
- Drinking alcohol more / abusing substances
- Shutting down and not communicating with others.
Support available
The Co-op supports a huge range of resources available for farmers including (but not limited to):
Rural Support Trust help line: Farmers can call 0800 787 254 to talk to a local facilitator who understands the unique pressures of farming and arrange a visit at your place of choice to provide support and resources tailored to your needs.
Need to Talk? Farmers can call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counsellor - this is a 24-hour service.
EAP Counselling: available to all Fonterra farms call 0800 327 669.
Farmstrong: this website offers a range of resources, videos, blogs, and workshops for farmers to improve their health and wellbeing.