Dr. David Meredith:

I am grateful for the opportunity to be here today. I will speak on the research side of things. The research tells us that while it is true that a large number of farmers experience stress, just like all other workers and all other people, this does not mean there is a mental health crisis within agriculture. The research we have conducted highlights that the wellbeing of farmers is generally good and in the latest data we have on this, 9% of farmers out of a sample of over 800 reported poor wellbeing. The other 91% are somewhere in terms of the rest of that spectrum. Mental health challenges are not unique to farming or disproportionately severe in terms of their impact on farmers. As Professor McNamara indicated, Teagasc advocates for targeted policy and strategic responses based on enhancing the resilience of farmers through education, training and advisory services that enable farmers to prevent stress to begin with, and the adoption of knowledge, practices and technologies that are relevant to them and their business. We do this through rigorous research that looks at the best means of providing these services and this education.