Scottish Farmers Facing Mental Health Strain

That the Parliament recognises what it sees as the high risk farmers now face of poor mental health where, tragically, one farmer per week reportedly takes their own life; appreciates what it sees as the enormous emotional strain and pressures that many farmers are currently facing, in connection with pressing issues such as meat production, trade deals, climate crisis, and biodiversity loss; welcomes the creation of a new study project managed by the University of Stirling and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) to address farmers’ mental health, which is conducted in partnership with the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution, Scottish Agricultural Consulting, Living Life to the Full, and NHS Highland, as well as the National Rural Mental Health Forum; hopes that the study will establish preferences for help and types of support that are more acceptable and effective in supporting farmers’ mental health in the near future, and recognises what it sees as the massive contribution that farming makes to the Scottish economy, which the SRUC has estimated at nearly £920 million per year.