More than a quarter of farmers are burnt out while half are getting poor sleep, according to researchers who say it raises the potential for farm-related injuries.
The DCU study, published in Safety Science, found that 62.7pc of farmers are getting less than seven hours’ sleep a night, with existing research suggesting that sleeping less than 7.5 hours is associated with increased potential for farm-related injuries.
“Poor sleep and being burned out can lead to serious negative impacts on farmers’ health and safety. In our study we found that poor sleepers and burnout farmers displayed higher mental health and physical health issues,” said Dr Siobhan O’Connor, lead investigator on the study.
“Being burnout and having poor sleep can lead to farmers making quick and poor judgments on the farm, which can potentially lead to accidents. It also can negatively impact their quality of life and their relationships with their family.”
The research, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, surveyed 351 Irish farmers from across the country.
It also showed that older farmers and farmers with children were more likely to experience burnout and that lower income was related to poorer sleep.
“Large scale changes are needed to truly tackle burnout in an entire occupation such as financial, psychological and social supports,” said Dr O’Connor.
“Targeted interventions for Irish farmers, particularly our older farmers and those with young families are also key.”
The researchers recommend that farmers take stock of their own wellbeing and note how they are feeling and sleeping.
Burnout can present as a farmer feeling very overwhelmed, having a short fuse, finding arduous the tasks they had previously enjoyed, disengagement or demotivation, finding it hard to concentrate, eating poorly, not exercising, and stopping taking part in their social activities, breaks or holidays.
“It is also important for us to check in not only with ourselves, but all those in our farming community, including our family and farmer friends,” said Dr O’Connor.
Project researcher Anna Donnla O’Hagan detailed the unique challenges which face the farming profession in taking time out.
“They have this really demanding occupation; with financial pressures, relying on market prices, production targets, unpredictable weather, disease outbreak, so a lot of time pressures. On top of this they also have a lot of administrative tasks beyond the time intensive and physical role,” Dr O’Hagan said.
“Because of the farming lifestyle, it can be very hard to take a break. Someone who works nine-to-five, they get to leave work at five o’clock, and get a break from it, but those lines can be quite blurred among farmers in that farming is their lifestyle.
“Sometimes there can be poor availability and high costs associated with arranging cover for farmers so they end up going a very long time without taking any break from the farm.”
(Source – Irish Independent – Indo Farming – Niall Hurson – 21/11/2023)