Agriland Media Group is delighted to collaborate with Agri Aware to bring you the ‘Sowing Wellbeing in Every Field Series’.
Running from October 24 to November 7, this campaign aims to raise awareness on physical health, mental health and farm safety among the farming community with the support of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
Agri Aware understands the many responsibilities farmers juggle, from farm safety to maintaining their own physical and mental health.
Balancing each of these ‘fields’ is essential to its success and wellbeing. The Sowing Wellbeing in Every Field campaign aims to cultivate a strong network of care and support within farming communities.
This three-part series will see three people from farming backgrounds, either involved actively on the farm and/or working in the agricultural sector share their stories on their physical health, mental health and farm safety journeys, sharing how they coped with the obstacles they faced and the advice they would offer to anyone currently facing the same challenges they faced.
First up in the Sowing Wellbeing in Every Field Series, is beef and sheep farmer from Co. Tipperary, Nicholas King.
Nicholas’s story revolves around his physical health journey that centred around being an emotional stress eater that led to weight issues. Nicholas details his struggles and how he overcame them over time.
Part two of this series will see Kerrie Leonard from Co. Meath share her story about a farm accident she was involved in when she was six years of age involving a tractor that left her paralysed from the waist down.
Kerrie shares the story of that day, adjusting to her ‘new normal’ and her amazing success on and off the farm from breeding thoroughbred horses to being a National Paralympian Champion.
Lastly, the final instalment of the series will see Andrew Bonham in Co. Westmeath who works full-time for Meath Farm Machinery as a sales specialist talk about his mental health journey.
Andrew shares the struggles he faced on his journey and the friends he lost due to the same struggle and how he sought and found help that has tooled him to cope with any obstacles he may face again.
As part of the Sowing Wellbeing in Every Field campaign, Agri Aware alongside the help of experts in their field, will be providing relevant information and practical advice on each of the topics spoken about in each of the videos for those farming or working in the agricultural sector to engage with.
For more information on the Sowing Wellbeing in Every Field campaign visit agriaware.ie by clicking here.