Volunteers needed for new research study examining farmer stress and fatigue

[Drirwin]

Hello all,
For those who don't know me I am an applied Psychology lecturer from the University of Aberdeen with an interest in farmer safety and wellbeing (you can check out much of my research here: https://research.abdn.ac.uk/nts-farming/). I am particularly focused on farmer safety critical skills and the impact of stress and fatigue on both safety and farmer mental health.

My PhD student, Ilinca, has recently begun her PhD research (3 year program) which is focused on examining farmer stress and fatigue. For her first study she would very much like to interview farmers to chat about what you consider to be the main factors leading to stress and fatigue, the impact of stress and fatigue on your work, safety and wellbeing, and your thoughts on how you manage these issues. The interviews will run for a maximum of 40 mins (with average time estimated to be 30mins) and can be conducted over the phone, or face-to-face if you happen to live in the Aberdeenshire area. Interviews will be confidential with subsequent transcripts (interviews will be audio recorded, then transcribed, with the original recording then deleted) anonymised. The findings will be used only for the purposes of academic research, with the research having been approved by the Psychology ethics committee.

I appreciate that it will be difficult to schedule in an interview but we would really appreciate any and all help with this - the best way for Ilinca to immerse herself in farming safety and wellbeing is to talk to the people on the frontline - which is you lot That way she can get a much better understanding of the issues, and then use that understanding to develop future research projects over the next three years.

If you would be up for taking part the best thing to do would be to contact Ilinca direct: [email protected] so she can email you the full information sheet and set an interview date and time (if you are doing a phone interview we won't need your full name or location, just a number and some good times to reach you). Or you can dm me through this forum as her research supervisor and I will put Ilinca in touch with you that way.

Thanks in advance to all volunteers!
Amy

 

[spin cycle]

i'm in ......contact later

 

[Drirwin]

i'm in ......contact later

Fabulous! Fingers crossed you are the first of many!

 

[spin cycle]

Fabulous! Fingers crossed you are the first of many!

you only need me...i'm very stressed

 

[bactosoil]

that way she can get a much better understanding of the issues, and then use that understanding to develop future research projects over the next three years.

Without trying to rude but I would wonder whats the point of the research ??
I am aware of many 'academia ' projects that might be fascinating to an academic but very very rarely changes the world or anything other than fill a filling cabinet or a cloud space
and with so many variable factors that cause stress to farmers you may need a very very long tick box

 

[Drirwin]

Without trying to rude but I would wonder whats the point of the research ??
I am aware of many 'academia ' projects that might be fascinating to an academic but very very rarely changes the world or anything other than fill a filling cabinet or a cloud space
and with so many variable factors that cause stress to farmers you may need a very very long tick box

Ah, possibly you have not seen any of my posts before? As an applied psychologist the aim is always to turn the research findings into practical tools to support farmers - thus far we have developed a whole series of info leaflets (hosted on this forum and our website), a tractor situation awareness checklist, a pocket safety guide, a free elearning course with lantra, plus we are working with the farm safety foundation (yellow wellies) to feed our research into their campaigns and materials, including their ‘little book of mind your head’. I believe that the best training and interventions are based on research - so the point of the research is to learn more about what is going on so we can feed those findings into practice in a useful way. I hope that answers your question
To find out more about this study in particular get in touch with Ilinca for the full details, also happy to send you copies of our tools for free if you want to check them out

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Why does stress effect some people more than others . Must be a simple answer that ive not thought of

 

[bactosoil]

a tractor situation awareness checklist, a pocket safety guide, a free elearning course with lantra, plus we are working with the farm safety foundation (yellow wellies) to feed our research into their campaigns and materials, including their ‘little book of mind your head’.

while anything that increase farm safety is great ,the reality is how many pocket safety guides and e-learning are kept in the cab of a tractor /on farm and referred back to once they have been flicked through ?common sense is something that cannot be taught to start with ,but this alone will save no one ,I will probably we put straight on this but many accidents are largely down to factors including haste to do a job/cut a corner or by a safety devise not working properly/being in place ( possibly due to financial constraints ) and these issues while needing to be reduced are beyond some of the interventions you suggest though not suggesting these factors are acceptable, but are hard to turn around
Back to the original point 'focused on examining farmer stress and fatigue' how can you research help someone lambing in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night when its all going wrong and who has huge financial worries ?? as extra help or any solution might not be a viable financial suggestion and there isnt the money like there is in the aviation industry ( that you have looked at )
to pay for solutions
Luckily I am not in that situation above ,but I know people who work incredibly hard on small remote farms and without a magic wand/ unsustainable investment or them stopping farming they will never get out of a stressful financially challenging situation by pocket guides alone ?
maybe more practical solutions are needed like free health and safety advise and support coupled with grants to improve safety of equipment and the farmyard for those who can least afford it would be a better way of assisting many stressed farmers ( and accept not all ) ?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I turned the water off and went too bed . Good job the wife is away, the clue is i was sitting in the bath and it was raining on me . Nothing new then !

 

[ARW]

Farmers need more money for the produce, easing cash flow problems would help stop farmers having to cut corners, agriculture can’t afford some health and safety.
I only get stressed when I’m not getting paid for our hard work

 

[Drirwin]

while anything that increase farm safety is great ,the reality is how many pocket safety guides and e-learning are kept in the cab of a tractor /on farm and referred back to once they have been flicked through ?common sense is something that cannot be taught to start with ,but this alone will save no one ,I will probably we put straight on this but many accidents are largely down to factors including haste to do a job/cut a corner or by a safety devise not working properly/being in place ( possibly due to financial constraints ) and these issues while needing to be reduced are beyond some of the interventions you suggest though not suggesting these factors are acceptable, but are hard to turn around
Back to the original point 'focused on examining farmer stress and fatigue' how can you research help someone lambing in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night when its all going wrong and who has huge financial worries ?? as extra help or any solution might not be a viable financial suggestion and there isnt the money like there is in the aviation industry ( that you have looked at )
to pay for solutions
Luckily I am not in that situation above ,but I know people who work incredibly hard on small remote farms and without a magic wand/ unsustainable investment or them stopping farming they will never get out of a stressful financially challenging situation by pocket guides alone ?
maybe more practical solutions are needed like free health and safety advise and support coupled with grants to improve safety of equipment and the farmyard for those who can least afford it would be a better way of assisting many stressed farmers ( and accept not all ) ?

Short answer - by working with the government and other farming organisations we highlight the issues farmers are going through and try to push through change such as the need for increased financial support and better mental healthcare for remote and rural populations - we are part of the National rural mental health forum for example, they use research like ours to lobby for change. The point is that without research, where we gather data from multiple farmers, we can’t bring about change - same goes for any industry really, research is the bedrock for technological change, medical advancement etc.

Long answer would require research debate, sharing process of research to impact etc.

I respect your opinion, though obviously mine differs, but do remember our research is voluntary and if you don’t want to help you don’t have to - though perhaps if you got involved you would start to see the point? ;-)

 

[Drirwin]

Farmers need more money for the produce, easing cash flow problems would help stop farmers having to cut corners, agriculture can’t afford some health and safety.
I only get stressed when I’m not getting paid for our hard work

The impact of financial stress was the key finding in our initial research - and certainly farmers deserve better financial reward for your work. However, our latest study also indicates factors such as brexit, veganism, and more can also have an impact. I can’t really list all the factors here because I don’t want to bias anyone who might take part, but happy to share further potential stress factors via dm if interested.

 

[Tarw Coch]

Why does stress effect some people more than others . Must be a simple answer that ive not thought of

I suspect the answer is far from simple, and is all to do with how our minds are wired up, situations that stress some won’t bother others in the slightest.
Paperwork and bearecracy stress me, things like farm assurance and all the rules and regs dreamt up by various government agency’s , the current weather doesn’t bother me one bit, just part of the natural challenges we face farming. Others will see those things very differently.

 

[Drirwin]

I suspect the answer is far from simple, and is all to do with how our minds are wired up, situations that stress some won’t bother others in the slightest.
Paperwork and bearecracy stress me, things like farm assurance and all the rules and regs dreamt up by various government agency’s , the current weather doesn’t bother me one bit, just part of the natural challenges we face farming. Others will see those things very differently.

This is the subject of ongoing research and reported reasons range from the biological, to the internal (personality based) to life experience. One of the most important aspects of our research is to try and understand how farmers cope - what works, what doesn’t, so we can try and look into appropriate measures of support.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

This is the subject of ongoing research and reported reasons range from the biological, to the internal (personality based) to life experience. One of the most important aspects of our research is to try and understand how farmers cope - what works, what doesn’t, so we can try and look into appropriate measures of support.

Are you saying that a life in farming is more stressful that other industries or jobs or are you just interested in Farming
Ive just been reading up on how long distance cycling chemically reduces stress which explains a lot
And if cycling is now helping me relieve stress then was i getting the same effect when i used too go on for weeks on end loading small bales on lorries by hand and enjoy loving it

 

[Drirwin]

Are you saying that a life in farming is more stressful that other industries or jobs or are you just interested in Farming
Ive just been reading up on how long distance cycling chemically reduces stress which explains a lot

I am specifically interested in farming as there is a lack of research in that area, and since I live on a farm, surrounded by farming neighbours, I am personally motivated I also conduct research in aviation and healthcare.

 

[Sonoftheheir]

I’d be interested to know how farming compares to other professions for stress? Are we more likely to be in stressful situations compared to other people?

I just wonder do we think we have more stress than others? Is the grass greener or not?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I think farmers like too think they have more stress, try being a contractor with fuel and wage bills too pay every week and your customer farmers cant or dont want too pay you , not many farmers have too chase money apart from a bit of fodder they sell

 

[Tarw Coch]

I think farmers like too think they have more stress, try being a contractor with fuel and wage bills too pay every week and your customer farmers cant or dont want too pay you , not many farmers have too chase money apart from a bit of fodder they sell

I suspect it’s as much if not more down to how we’re wired up than a specific task or job as what triggers stress in some doesn’t in others. It may well be that some jobs have more triggers than others, it could be that the grass is greener on the other side as we don’t fully understand the ins and outs of other jobs. I’m sure many in other jobs think farming is the perfect stress free occupation.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Lifes what you make of it, or dont .