![\"Martin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/martin-williams.png\")
<\/p>\nA farming charity has warned the industry is facing \u201cextreme times\u201d, with the mental health crisis in rural communities reaching alarming levels.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the pressures facing farmers, a representative from We Are Farming Minds said many are operating at a loss with some left with \u201cnothing to harvest, nothing to sell\u201d after last year\u2019s severe weather.<\/p>\n
Joint Chair of the Farm Herefordshire Partnership, Martin Williams said: “Yes, we\u2019re really struggling at the moment. These are extremely difficult times in farming, and the mental health crisis is very acute right now.<\/p>\n
“I think, as a general public, there is probably more that could be done. There seems to be quite a detachment from farming. <\/p>\n
“It\u2019s very easy for people to go into a supermarket, pick products off the shelf, and not necessarily realise the hard work and strain that goes into producing that food.<\/p>\n
“The hours are long lambing sheep, harvest time it\u2019s painstaking work. And the weather has a huge impact. Last year in particular was incredibly tough. <\/p>\n
“We had an exceptionally hot summer, and large parts of the country experienced drought conditions. There simply wasn\u2019t enough rain for crops to grow. <\/p>\n
“Crops failed, farmers had nothing to harvest, nothing to sell, and that has a massive knock-on effect on how they\u2019re feeling.<\/p>\n
“From a public point of view, I think there just needs to be more recognition of where our food comes from and the effort that goes into producing it.<\/p>\n
The farmer told GB News that that the industry is at crisis point<\/p>\n
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GB NEWS <\/p>\n
“Anyone who knows anything about farming understands how unbelievably hard farmers work. But more and more, we\u2019re hearing people say, ‘I\u2019m doing this job and I\u2019m not actually making any money.’<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s the reality. Many farmers are operating at a loss, which is incredibly sad and shows the state of the industry at the moment. <\/p>\n
“As you mentioned, on average one farmer per week in the UK is taking their own life. <\/p>\n
“When you consider that farming makes up just 1.3 per cent of the UK workforce, that\u2019s an astonishing and deeply worrying figure. <\/p>\n
![\"Farmer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/farmer-protests.jpg\")
“It\u2019s something we all need to work together to reduce.<\/p>\n
“It needs to be tackled on two fronts. Yes, we need more mental health support. <\/p>\n
“I don\u2019t want to get drawn too far into politics, but there may well be more that could be done to make life easier for farmers rather than harder.”<\/p>\n
The warning follows new Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showing that 47 suicides were registered in England and Wales in 2024 among people working in farming and agriculture underlining the scale of the crisis in rural communities.<\/p>\n
The Farm Safety Foundation, also known as Yellow Wellies, says the sector is battling what it calls the industry\u2019s \u201cbiggest hidden problem\u201d, with suicide prevention now at the heart of its annual Mind Your Head campaign.<\/p>\n
Now in its ninth year, Mind Your Head Week is taking place this week urging farmers, rural organisations, agricultural colleges and Young Farmers Clubs to spark potentially life-saving conversations and strengthen support networks across the countryside.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Berkeley, Manager of the Farm Safety Foundation, said that while awareness of mental health has improved in recent years, efforts to prevent suicide have not advanced at the same pace.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cOver the past nine years, we have made significant strides in raising awareness and improving education around mental health. However, when it comes to suicide prevention, progress has been far more limited.”<\/p>\n
Anyone who is in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide can call the Samaritans anonymously for free from a UK phone on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A farming charity has warned the industry is facing \u201cextreme times\u201d, with the mental health crisis in rural…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[130487,64,63,137,514,515,44,84,21173,107638],"class_list":{"0":"post-475160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-across-the-uk","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-mental-health","13":"tag-mentalhealth","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-uk-politics","17":"tag-video-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}