“Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please help me”.

In August 1980 John Lennon was interviewed regarding the song Help! He had some very insightful comments….
“The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension. I was subconsciously crying out for help”.
Now while I don’t expect that all of you have had screaming young adults celebrating your musical genius, I do recognise that your role in managing very complex businesses mirrors the lyrics penned by Lennon and McCartney – Help!

If you indulge me I will share a little of my own story in recognising my need to ask for help ……

I started Cherylton Farms when I was 26, with a head full of education and limited real world experience. It wasn’t until I drove down the main roadway dividing the 10,000 plus hectares after unloading 20,000 ewes that I began to question whether I had bitten off a little more than I should chew. In typical farmer form I kept those thoughts to myself pushing them nice and deep down and continued to make my way on this farming adventure. I had a great team and we fumbled along learning and growing. I had no training in how to manage a team and I just thought it would come to me. What could possibly go wrong? Well, this is a landline article not a novel but fair to say it was a very steep learning curve that I was totally ill-equipped to manage, but in typical farmer form I kept those thoughts to myself and kept pushing.

Now the financial reality of running a business started to really hit home, I had a general understanding of balance sheets and budgets but not the level I really needed. I thought Kojonup was supposed to be easy farming because it rained more than not, but my budgets didn’t look that flash and my actuals looked even worse? I was really wondering can I do this. Well in typical farmer form I kept those thoughts to myself and pushed on.

My wife and I had started a family and our first daughter was born and what a joy – I was running a farm that internally I wasn’t feeling very confident I was doing a good job at, I lacked confidence that I was leading my team effectively, I had difficulty making the budget stack up and I had this strange level of exhaustion start – not just physically exhausted but emotionally. My darling wife then came down with a very challenging period of post-natal depression, and without any knowledge of how to appropriately support her we made the decision to step away from the farm for 3 months.

It was 2010 and the season was a disaster, I lost my cropping manager through my own lack of awareness, and I was now short on experienced team members. So, I worked harder and harder because if I pushed myself maybe we’d make the books balance and I could see some sort of success in the chaos that surrounded me. Well, that wasn’t working so I needed more help, however as the team grew, I gained an understanding of how little I had put in place for the inductions and safety of my team, strangely I had brought on more people in order to free up my time and now I was busier than ever. I stayed up at night stressing about my darling wife, stressing about my daughter, stressing about what if one of my team has an accident, have I done enough to protect them, stressing about the weather……stressing….

So, in typical farmer form we added two extra little bundles of joy, added more farm area, team members, stock and machinery because bigger is best hey – a decent problem was now magnified. I had two of my main team leave, one to run his own farm and another to pursue his own darling wife. Now I seemed to have developed extensive sciatic pain down my leg from a farm accident along the journey and I couldn’t sleep due to the pain along with my heart which seemed to be all over the place with chest pain and breathlessness. I didn’t know any other way than to keep pushing, if I stopped, I was failing and that wasn’t an option – I was sure my grandad would have kept going, my dad would have kept going, I can’t give up. I placed pressure on my family because of the unhealthy habits I had allowed to take place, I didn’t know why I was so overwhelmed, and I hadn’t intentionally decided to get to that place…….am I alone in this??

Well, the National Farmer Wellbeing Report released in 2023 suggests that my journey is not entirely unique and whether we are actively asking for it we certainly need Help as an industry. Nearly half of Australian farmers (45%) have felt depressed, with almost two thirds (64%) experiencing anxiety. For one in seven (14%), it’s a frequent experience. Close to half of Australian farmers (45%) have had thoughts of self-harm or suicide, while close to a third (30%) have attempted self-harm or suicide.

Alarmingly 84% of 25–34-year-olds have had thoughts of self-harm or suicide. Close to half experience these thoughts with relative frequency – significantly higher than the national average. This is not just the young adults facing this mental load though, with 40% of those 45-64 experiencing a decline in mental health.

So, what is driving the alarming state of wellbeing in our farming community? Is it financial? I suspect not in most cases.

If we take a snapshot of the last 10 years in Ag (the report was not including the seasonal challenges of 2023) we see near 250% plus capital growth in land value, an average return on Capital from operations of 7.8% and 13.3% for top 25%. Closing equity for 91% of businesses at the start of 2023 was 80% or better. As outlined by the Financial Review and Rural Bank the asset comparison of Australian Farmland leads the way compared to other key investment class over the last 10 years.

Source: Planfarm Benchmarks 2022.

The average Australian farmer within the Planfarm database is now in the top 0.03% of the wealthiest on the globe.

Now using averages is very dangerous and I don’t want to diminish those that are struggling with financial woes – this is very difficult and real for many. However, we do know as a team of consultants that some of the best farmers in the state who are not struggling financially are completely overwhelmed. For many and as it was for me it was a bit of the old frog in hot water, not aware of the temp being raised until it was bubbling around me.

So how about some solutions and some hope? Our bodies are remarkable things (mine a bit more soft and doughy since leaving the farm and joining Planfarm). The neurotransmitters in our brain release chemicals that have very specific purposes. We are able to create certain behaviors that drive the production of some of the chemical release in our brain that drives a change in wellbeing. While we operate in a competitive environment and our business benchmarking is very much about encouraging that in a healthy way, ultimately, we are a farming community. When we are struggling with any range of issues both personally and within business, we naturally remove ourselves and become isolated. When we ask questions and reach out for support within our communities (this can include family, sporting, mates, work and this Planfarm community) our bodies release a chemical call Oxytocin – this is the same chemical that a mother has when she gives birth and encourage the bonding process. Oxytocin also creates a sense of belonging and helps fight the sense of isolation.

Our perspective or mindset and the attitude of gratitude or thankfulness is another significant mind hack to improve our wellbeing in spite of the circumstances around us. I am not trying to be to woo woo, but the science is clear that when we physically write down or focus on the areas of thankfulness, we release Serotonin. Serotonin is known colloquially as the “happy hormone,” and so through our mindset and focus we are able to improve our sense of happiness. Sertraline (a generic of the more popular known Zoloft) is used for those suffering from Anxiety and is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (in a nutshell they are thought to work by increasing the serotonin in the brain).

We have so many things that we can’t control in farming with the price received, interest rates and weather just some of the many. When we try and control something that ultimately, we can’t our mind becomes anxious and moves into fight or flight mode. An injection of Epinephrine is sent racing through our bodies. Now this is a great state to be in when you step on a snake and need to move rapidly out of the way, or you are putting out a header fire, but it is only meant to be for short periods where your whole body needs to operate at a different level. Unfortunately, when we are trying to control areas, we have no capacity so we sit in a place of anxiety that fuels this adrenaline overload and over time can lead to chronic illness and adrenal fatigue. By controlling the controllable we recognise what we can influence, including all the systems and processes that can alleviate a sense of panic and chaos in a time poor business.

Finally, we move to setting a pathway forward. Yes, we recognise that we are not in great shape as an industry mentally, but we can take steps to move toward a healthy business approach for the whole team, not just the bottom line. By setting clear goals our mind releases a dopamine hit and as we move closer to achieving these goals the reward continues. Dopamine is the same buzz you get from a drink or two, or other such buzz creating substances for those that participated in Lennons day (we did get some very good music!) Dopamine is associated with a feeling of pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation. We can use a clear plan with well-defined goals to help drive this same sense of wellbeing.

Our whole business culture is to Partner with Planfarm. Partner means walking alongside, doing our best to empathize and where possible get alongside with solutions. Part of that is in the areas that are messy and to be honest pretty tough to navigate, however if we are genuine in living this out then we want to help. We want to be part of creating some solutions. Reach out if you need help in trying to create some freedom, clarity, and a path forward within your farm business.

I firmly believe we work in the best industry, with vibrant innovative thinkers, with amazing salt of the earth people, feeding and clothing the globe. It’s ok to ask for help even the Beatles did.