Season three of The Whole Story podcast was full of incredible insights and learnings from a range of people involved in the Food and Fibre sector. This week we start to share some of the key insights and messages from these podcasts through the blog. Whether written pieces or audio podcasts are your thing, we have something for everyone so that you can take away some great food for thought from season three of the podcast.
We kick things off with Gerard Vaughan, Programme Director at Farmstrong. Gerard is deeply passionate about people and how they can overcome challenges to live happier and healthier lives. He has worked in this area for over 30 years in a variety of roles, leading programmes either as a CEO within government organisations, within charitable trusts, and for the last 12 years independently, forming partnerships with different organisations. Gerard has been involved in Farmstrong from the very beginning when they started working on the idea 12 years ago. He now oversees Farmstrongs research and education initiatives, and is passionate about turning the science of wellbeing into practical tools and resources for busy farmers.
This episode ties strongly to Sustainable Development Goal #3 – Good Health and Wellbeing. The insights from this episode will leave you with a better understanding of Farmstrong, how culture towards health and wellbeing is changing, and will provide you with plenty of examples of how farmers are prioritising health and wellbeing while running their businesses.
What Sustainability Means to Gerard
For Gerard, sustainability is all about the ability to keep going both in the present and also for future generations. He thinks of sustainability much further than the benefit just for oneself individually, but the benefit that it has for your family, your community, your country, for the globe, and for future generations. Further to that, Gerard touches on how sustainability isn’t about maintaining the status quo but is something that involves evolution and change, the ability to adapt, and having an open view.
‘If you had a very fixed view, it actually won’t work – you won’t achieve any sustainability goals because the environment and things are changing rapidly. So, I think the ability to shift and bend, to change and evolve, and develop in a learning and open way, rather than having a very fixed view about how things used to be in the past or how they are in the present, needs to be the way of the future. You won’t actually achieve sustainability if you have that mindset’.
The 'why' behind Farmstrong
Farmstrong was born in 2015 out of the need around the level of stress and pressure that farmers and growers were feeling, and the cost that was having on people. Organisations in the sector started talking amongst each other about getting help for people who were finding dealing with that level of stress and pressure overwhelming. There was need for organisations focused on the helping and providing the one-on-one support for people, but there was also need for a focus on the prevention space.
‘ …there is this whole science and understanding that there’s things that you can do to be proactive about and build into your life that maybe prevent you getting into that space in the first place. Or, if you did get into it, you wouldn’t go as deep and you wouldn’t stay in it for quite as long.’
The focus then became on what it would look like to develop a programme in the mental health and wellbeing prevention space for farmers and growers that could work alongside the great work that the Rural Support Trust does. The development of the programme sought to ensure that the focus could be on proactive actions that people could take to support their mental health and overall wellbeing, rather than the response model where we usually wait for someone to fall over and then wrap the support around them. By adding a focus on prevention and proactive steps, Farmstrong sought to fill a void that wasn’t being addressed for farmers and growers. FMG came on board as partner to co-design the programme and they really got what Farmstrong was trying to do by providing a level of ‘insurance’ for people’s health and wellbeing, just like how proactive and preventative steps can avoid needing to make insurance claims on farm. ACC also came on board as a strategic partner and also were really supportive of the benefits that improved mental health and wellbeing can have on reducing risk of accident and injury on farm.
‘I think the other real big insight was that farmers and growers weren’t looking for information on this. They were looking for information around how to run better businesses and to run better farms. So that when we talked to farmers and then looked at the science, it’s the same science and the same practical things that you do that help you make really good decisions and that make you run a sustainable business and also that help you to remain sustainable yourself, because the most important asset in any business is the people that work in it.’
There wasn’t anything else that existed like Farmstrong that was cross-sector for the whole country.
‘ Our aim through Farmstrong was to elevate alongside the other really important information that is shared around how to grow the best grass, how to breed the best sheep, produce some of the best produce. The science and the practical wisdom that exists in farming and is shared when farmers and growers get together is really important. What we’ve really done through Farmstrong is elevated the human science and practical wisdom that sits with farmers and growers to normalise that alongside the information that’s shared about these other things.’
The power of sharing
As Gerard mentions, the wisdom and experience that is exchanged when farmers and growers get together is really important. Sharing around mental health and wellbeing also provides many benefits. Openness and normalising conversations is something that Gerard has continued to see increase over the past 10 years of Farmstrong and it’s engagement with the sector.
‘When we started it would have been unusual when farmers got together for the topic of health and wellbeing to be on the agenda. 10 years later it’s unusual for it not to be. There’s been a real shift which I think we should all embrace.’
Farmstrong found that there were a lot of farmers and growers that were doing quite proactive things for their health and wellbeing but they just didn’t share it with anyone or talk about it. Tapping into the connection that farmers and growers have about sharing around farming practices is important. The reason farmers and growers share is because it could help another farmer or grower, and they’ve seen an increase in people sharing what they do to look after themselves, why they do it, and what benefit it has for them and their business.
‘I grew up with a model of resilience that was you don’t show any vulnerability, thinking that is what strength is. And I think the great thing is with a sustainable model of resilience, and again I’m just thinking from a blokes point of view, actually it is a connected concept that with the complexity of the world that we’re now navigating our way through, to achieve our goals you actually need trusted networks of people you can be totally honest around what’s going on for you and you can also do that for them… and actually that’s the model of resilience we are really promoting. And interestingly, you get someone like Sam Whitelock from a sporting point of view, that is what all these guys are now learning, they’re learning actually how do you manage your anxiety and your stresses because if you’re not in a good space when you turn up on the day, you’re not going to perform.’
Practical tips for Farmers
Gerard mentions many examples in the podcast of how farmers are looking after their mental health and wellbeing.
One of the biggest challenges to wellbeing for farmers and growers is getting time away from the business. Gerard touches on that they have found that some farmers have gotten into regular habits of giving themselves small micro-breaks, as well as planning how they set things up to get a decent break during the year as well. Getting breaks in during the day was something that farmers really advocated for helping their wellbeing and the mental game of farming.
‘A farmer who is in his seventies, and I think he articulated it really well, said that farming was all about this and he pointed to his bicep. And then he said, now it is all about this, and where do you think he pointed to? His head. It’s a mental game in farming now, whereas before it was a physical game. You just worked longer hours with physical tasks, but now I think understanding the way the brain works, the complexity of the brain, and the way we can maximise that as our best asset. Recovery time is really important for brain-led activity and making good decisions.’
Another example Gerard gives is of a farmer who was going through a really difficult financial period. This farmer got into the habit when he was out shifting his fences to stop and listen to the sound of the bell birds for four or five minutes. The farmer found that it didn’t solve his financial problems but it did remind him of what he loved about farming.
‘If you look at the science, he was actually bringing himself into the present. He wasn’t worrying about the future, wasn’t worrying about the past – he was slowing down his stress response to be calmer and in a better headspace. Other people might call that mindfulness meditation but actually for him that was his way of just bringing himself into the present.’
‘Another farmer was, actually his fitness levels had really dropped off. He was just spending a lot of time in vehicles so he got in the habit of just leaving his quad bike 10 minutes from the shed. He would park it and walk to the shed and walk back, and that gave him 20 minutes of exercise.’
‘Another lovely example, which we’ve touched on the theme of connection, the importance of that and having people on your side around you – a farmer who went through the North Island weather events, after that happened he rang five of his good mates and said I‘m ringing you to give you permission to contact me to see how I’m doing. He knew he needed that but he thought that they may be a bit nervous around just giving him a ring if he was busy with other things, but he knew that actually part of his recovery process was going to have friends that were checking in on him that he could have a natter with.’
‘He’s got into the habit of booking an appointment with himself in his diary and actually in that appointment he goes for a run or a bike ride. But when someone is saying ‘are you available then?’, he looks at his diary as says no, I’ve got an appointment.’
Farmstrong resources
Farmstrong has a wealth of insights, tips and resources that farmers and growers can access and utilise to support their mental health and wellbeing.
You can check out the website and all the great resources at farmstrong.co.nz