The importance of coping with isolation in farming is discussed in the latest Influencers@LU podcast, hosted by Dr Hafsa Ahmed.
In this episode, Hafsa talks with agribusiness lecturer Dan Smith, who is very passionate about addressing rural mental health, and they talk about how he is making a culture change by discussing this with his students.
Dan says in the podcast how many stress factors in agriculture, such as the weather and market prices, seem uncontrollable.
However, as he found himself when working in the industry, isolation is also a major issue in agriculture.
It was something he wanted to address before sending students out into the industry. He wanted to give some insights into how you would see any mental health issues emerging in yourself and other people and to offer options about how to get help, such as the Farmstrong website https://bit.ly/2UscdQI.
You can view the latest episode here https://bit.ly/35z6sHq
Dan teaches in the Diploma of Agriculture, which you can find more about here https://bit.ly/3nwRSX3
