Mental health, sustainability and choosing suckler cows were among the topics discussed at the Nuffield conference.
Held on Friday 16 October in the Castleknock Hotel, the conference had 125 people in attendance. Along with presentations from Willie Horton, and Caroline and David Keeling, the six 2014 scholars presented their research projects:
Suckler cows and the art of choice – Tommy Moyles.Educating board members of dairy co-ops prior to board selection – Sean O’Brien.Building strong professional teams – Finola McCoy.Sustainability – The climate change challenge for Irish dairying – Mary Delaney.A transfer to dairy farming: The knowledge and capital required – Sean Coughlan.Stress management in farming in Ireland – Joe Leonard.Padraig Walshe and Jim McCarthy received presentations in recognition of their 20 years as Nuffield Scholars, the first Nuffield scholars from Ireland.
The recently selected 2016 scholars are: Tom Dinneen, Mallow, Co Cork; Peter Farrell, Kilmessan, Co Meath; Ailbhe Gerrard, Nenagh, Co Tipperary; Ray Hunt, Cashel, Co Tipperary; John Joyce, Lorrha, Co Tiperary; and Roberta McDonald, Ballycumber, Co Offaly.
Welfare
Joe Leonard from Co Meath struck a chord with his project on mental health.
He found that managing stress involves the ability to cope with or lessen the physical and emotional effects of everyday pressures and challenges. He highlighted a need to be able to socialise and get away from the farm: “When times are hard is not the time to go looking to build a network – surround yourself with a strong family and friend structure at all times.”
According to mental health group See Change, 72% of farmers wouldn’t want others to know if they had a mental health problem, while 32% would delay seeking help for fear others would find out about it. Leonard’s Nuffield research shows that the best way to deal with mental health issues in the farming community is through education. “We need to develop an education module to highlight mental health and safety to agriculture students and farmers,” said Leonard. “It is better to talk about welfare rather than mental health – it engages more people.”
Conference quotes
Finola McCoy: “People don’t always automatically know how to work together, or be part of a team. However, this can be managed when service professionals understand the different roles that they play, the varying skills they possess and how to combine those complementary skills to maximum benefit.”
Sean O’Brien: “Even if they never get involved at committee level, the more young members are educated about their co-operative and the philosophy of co-ops in general, the better understanding they will have of how a successful co-operative operates. In turn, this will have a positive ripple effect for everyone involved.”
Sean Coughlan: “Join a discussion group. The advice and guidance of fellow farmers is invaluable. Many of them will have been in your shoes at some stage and may be able to give accounts of how they dealt with particular challenges. This simple, practical, informal advice delivered by farmers in their own language is without doubt the most effective method of knowledge transfer.”
Mental health, sustainability and choosing suckler cows were among the topics discussed at the Nuffield conference.
Held on Friday 16 October in the Castleknock Hotel, the conference had 125 people in attendance. Along with presentations from Willie Horton, and Caroline and David Keeling, the six 2014 scholars presented their research projects:
Suckler cows and the art of choice – Tommy Moyles.Educating board members of dairy co-ops prior to board selection – Sean O’Brien.Building strong professional teams – Finola McCoy.Sustainability – The climate change challenge for Irish dairying – Mary Delaney.A transfer to dairy farming: The knowledge and capital required – Sean Coughlan.Stress management in farming in Ireland – Joe Leonard.Padraig Walshe and Jim McCarthy received presentations in recognition of their 20 years as Nuffield Scholars, the first Nuffield scholars from Ireland.
The recently selected 2016 scholars are: Tom Dinneen, Mallow, Co Cork; Peter Farrell, Kilmessan, Co Meath; Ailbhe Gerrard, Nenagh, Co Tipperary; Ray Hunt, Cashel, Co Tipperary; John Joyce, Lorrha, Co Tiperary; and Roberta McDonald, Ballycumber, Co Offaly.
Welfare
Joe Leonard from Co Meath struck a chord with his project on mental health.
He found that managing stress involves the ability to cope with or lessen the physical and emotional effects of everyday pressures and challenges. He highlighted a need to be able to socialise and get away from the farm: “When times are hard is not the time to go looking to build a network – surround yourself with a strong family and friend structure at all times.”
According to mental health group See Change, 72% of farmers wouldn’t want others to know if they had a mental health problem, while 32% would delay seeking help for fear others would find out about it. Leonard’s Nuffield research shows that the best way to deal with mental health issues in the farming community is through education. “We need to develop an education module to highlight mental health and safety to agriculture students and farmers,” said Leonard. “It is better to talk about welfare rather than mental health – it engages more people.”
Conference quotes
Finola McCoy: “People don’t always automatically know how to work together, or be part of a team. However, this can be managed when service professionals understand the different roles that they play, the varying skills they possess and how to combine those complementary skills to maximum benefit.”
Sean O’Brien: “Even if they never get involved at committee level, the more young members are educated about their co-operative and the philosophy of co-ops in general, the better understanding they will have of how a successful co-operative operates. In turn, this will have a positive ripple effect for everyone involved.”
Sean Coughlan: “Join a discussion group. The advice and guidance of fellow farmers is invaluable. Many of them will have been in your shoes at some stage and may be able to give accounts of how they dealt with particular challenges. This simple, practical, informal advice delivered by farmers in their own language is without doubt the most effective method of knowledge transfer.”
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: