Oct 14, 2021 05:46 PM
(survey) One third of UK farmers could be depressed
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58911758
INTRO: More than a third of people in UK farming could be suffering from depression, according to a new survey of wellbeing in agriculture. Women farmers reported particularly high levels of anxiety. The causes of stress include financial pressure, physical pain, the Covid-19 pandemic, regulations and bad weather.
The findings come as pig farmers are reporting distress at having to kill their animals due to a shortage of abattoir workers. The lack of workers to slaughter and process the pigs is being blamed on a range of factors including Brexit and Covid.
The survey by the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) spoke to 15,000 people in UK farming and is thought to be the largest of its kind.
Sophie Hope runs a poultry and pig farm in Witcombe, Cheltenham, that her grandad started in the 1930s. She says she has periods of feeling low and anxious, and shutting herself off. "Farming can be very volatile. There are times when we make OK money and there are times when we don't," she explains.
The pressure of keeping the farm going for her young son and family, as well as 20 employees, also keeps her awake at night. "It can be crucifying. Sometimes I don't want to complain because I have a wonderful life here - it's more the pressure of keeping it going long-term for myself and everyone who's invested in the business."
She says pig farmers are struggling, particularly at the moment: "I can see the anguish in people's faces. I can feel the distress and the worry, and the uncertainty of when's this going to end."
line
The RABI survey was carried out before the shortage of abattoir workers became a problem in the UK. It found that specialist pig farmers were reporting the highest number of stress factors and rates of probable depression across all areas of farming. By contrast, people in cereals and general cropping reported fewer causes of stress and 70% were likely not experiencing depression.
The most common cause of stress was reported to be regulation, compliance and inspection, followed by the pandemic. Covid has disrupted supply chains and the availability of workers as people changed jobs or left the UK, putting pressure on farms... (MORE)
(data analysis) Sustainable farming: There’s no one solution
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/931434
INTRO: Sustainable agriculture will not be achieved by one universal solution. A meta-analysis by the University of Basel shows that the current focus on no-till farming does not achieve the desired results. A sustainable system of agriculture must be designed for local needs and in dialog with local farmers.
In 2016, the United Nations developed 17 Sustainable Development Goals to build a world based on conservation, social justice and environmental sustainability by 2030. A more sustainable agriculture is one of these goals. In recent decades, many studies have been carried out in this field aimed at developing less resource-intensive farming practices.
For some time, international organizations like the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations have recommended three principles to achieve sustainable agriculture: no-till farming, crop residue retention and crop rotation.
No-tillage and direct sowing received the most focus. No-tillage means the soil is not plowed. Instead, seeds are planted directly into the unworked earth. The purpose of this practice is to protect the soil from erosion, store more carbon dioxide and increase crop yields.
Little positive effect. However, the exact meaning of no-till farming has never been defined precisely, especially whether residue retention is part of it. As a result, some studies came to the conclusion that no-tillage is extremely effective, while others found no positive effect. Farmers also became more skeptical as some experienced declining crop yields.
Professor Nikolaus Kuhn of the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Basel and his former PhD student Liangang Xiao of the North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power have now analyzed 49 such studies in a meta-analysis. They conclude that the specified goals – storing carbon dioxide, protecting soil and increasing crop yields – cannot be reached by no-till farming and direct sowing alone. On the other hand, if crop residues are retained on the fields after the harvest, the desired positive effects prevail... (MORE)
PAPER: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/GCB.15906
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58911758
INTRO: More than a third of people in UK farming could be suffering from depression, according to a new survey of wellbeing in agriculture. Women farmers reported particularly high levels of anxiety. The causes of stress include financial pressure, physical pain, the Covid-19 pandemic, regulations and bad weather.
The findings come as pig farmers are reporting distress at having to kill their animals due to a shortage of abattoir workers. The lack of workers to slaughter and process the pigs is being blamed on a range of factors including Brexit and Covid.
The survey by the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) spoke to 15,000 people in UK farming and is thought to be the largest of its kind.
Sophie Hope runs a poultry and pig farm in Witcombe, Cheltenham, that her grandad started in the 1930s. She says she has periods of feeling low and anxious, and shutting herself off. "Farming can be very volatile. There are times when we make OK money and there are times when we don't," she explains.
The pressure of keeping the farm going for her young son and family, as well as 20 employees, also keeps her awake at night. "It can be crucifying. Sometimes I don't want to complain because I have a wonderful life here - it's more the pressure of keeping it going long-term for myself and everyone who's invested in the business."
She says pig farmers are struggling, particularly at the moment: "I can see the anguish in people's faces. I can feel the distress and the worry, and the uncertainty of when's this going to end."
line
The RABI survey was carried out before the shortage of abattoir workers became a problem in the UK. It found that specialist pig farmers were reporting the highest number of stress factors and rates of probable depression across all areas of farming. By contrast, people in cereals and general cropping reported fewer causes of stress and 70% were likely not experiencing depression.
The most common cause of stress was reported to be regulation, compliance and inspection, followed by the pandemic. Covid has disrupted supply chains and the availability of workers as people changed jobs or left the UK, putting pressure on farms... (MORE)
(data analysis) Sustainable farming: There’s no one solution
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/931434
INTRO: Sustainable agriculture will not be achieved by one universal solution. A meta-analysis by the University of Basel shows that the current focus on no-till farming does not achieve the desired results. A sustainable system of agriculture must be designed for local needs and in dialog with local farmers.
In 2016, the United Nations developed 17 Sustainable Development Goals to build a world based on conservation, social justice and environmental sustainability by 2030. A more sustainable agriculture is one of these goals. In recent decades, many studies have been carried out in this field aimed at developing less resource-intensive farming practices.
For some time, international organizations like the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations have recommended three principles to achieve sustainable agriculture: no-till farming, crop residue retention and crop rotation.
No-tillage and direct sowing received the most focus. No-tillage means the soil is not plowed. Instead, seeds are planted directly into the unworked earth. The purpose of this practice is to protect the soil from erosion, store more carbon dioxide and increase crop yields.
Little positive effect. However, the exact meaning of no-till farming has never been defined precisely, especially whether residue retention is part of it. As a result, some studies came to the conclusion that no-tillage is extremely effective, while others found no positive effect. Farmers also became more skeptical as some experienced declining crop yields.
Professor Nikolaus Kuhn of the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Basel and his former PhD student Liangang Xiao of the North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power have now analyzed 49 such studies in a meta-analysis. They conclude that the specified goals – storing carbon dioxide, protecting soil and increasing crop yields – cannot be reached by no-till farming and direct sowing alone. On the other hand, if crop residues are retained on the fields after the harvest, the desired positive effects prevail... (MORE)
PAPER: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/GCB.15906