Bird flu takes mental health toll on Suffolk's farmers

Graham Miles leads the seven-strong Lightwave Rural and Agricultural Chaplaincy Team in Suffolk - a group of volunteers which is helping the county's Anglican bishopric.

Its aim is to support rural people trying to overcome difficulties and it invites them to call and get some confidential support if they are suffering with their mental health or finding it difficult to cope.

"I am still receiving many phone calls from farmers that are struggling with many different problems," said Graham.

"One of the main issues we are dealing with is suicidal thoughts - that's really come about over the last three or four weeks."

The problems can vary from loneliness, depression and anxiety to suicidal thoughts, he said.

Many of the challenges are ones farmers share with the wider community. But there are other sources of anxiety too - including issues such as succession, generational disputes and other tensions within the family over the farm business, he said.

Farmers' problems have been compounded by multiple crises to beset the livestock sector this year - including in the pig and poultry industry - and in the fruit and vegetable sector which has taken a hit from labour shortages across the whole food and farming sector.

The pig crisis peaked earlier in the year when the cost of producing a pig versus its market value made it loss-making - creating a desperate plight for many farmers.

Now the county's poultry farmers have found themselves at the epicentre of a major bird flu outbreak - which is still raging despite a national lockdown of kept birds.

Where cases are found, the entire flock is humanely culled. The site then has to be deep-cleaned and the farmer must overcome various hurdles before the business can be reinstated.

Despite government compensation for lost birds, this can be financially disastrous for those unlucky enough to be directly affected. The culling of flocks can also take a huge mental toll.

Added to that, there is  deep anxiety among those farmers who have so far escaped without cases of the disease but fear they might be hit in the future.

"It's just becoming stressful for everybody - not just for the farming industry but all around," he said. "The poultry farmers are really struggling."

Overall, millions of birds have been culled, he said. "It affects the small farmer as much as the big farmer - they don't know which way to turn."

One problem they are encountering is even where they recognise they have a problem and go to the doctor for help there are then long delays in receiving the counselling they need, he said. He cited one farmer who had gone to his GP and then spoke to Lightwave.

"He's got an appointment to see a counsellor but it's two months down the line - but he needs to talk to somebody," he said. "He's asking for help and he's gone about it the right way."

The delay was "totally wrong", he said, and called on government to act. "It's far too long. These people need to be able to talk to someone."

He added: "It's affecting the pig farmers. It's affecting the poultry farmers, and also the fruit and vegetable people are losing out because they have not had the people to pick the fruit and vegetables. There's a lot of vegetables going to waste so it's just a vicious circle."

Supermarkets importing eggs to fill the gap caused by the bird flu crisis was yet another blow, he said.

Because of his farming background, Graham and his team have been able to offer some practical help to farmers, as well as a listening ear. For example, it was able to help out a farmer with some cow sheds for his cattle which are due to calve over the winter after he was told he had to leave his rented building.

But the isolated nature of the job meant it could be difficult for farmers to let others know they need support, he said.

"Farmers don't like asking for help - even if they talk to their neighbour they won't say they are struggling," he said. 

His team is supported in its work by Anglican bishop for St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Martin Seeley - who has spoken about the mental health plight of farmers in the House of Lords.

"It can be hard for those not in close contact with the farming community to realise the pressures many of our farmers are under, compounded by  the issues of isolation many farmers may face," said the bishop.

"The work that Graham and his team are doing is vital to support farmers in Suffolk and I am so grateful to them for their care and commitment."

If you need support or would like to speak to the Lightwave Rural and Agricultural Chaplaincy contact 07413 683368 or email graham.miles.lightwave@gmail.com