Farmers in North Yorkshire face a health crisis, according to the independent health watchdog, Healthwatch.
North Yorkshire is one of the most rural counties in England, with 6,000 farms and 79 per cent of its land used for farming, forming the backbone of the local economy and food supply.
But behind their resilience, a new report shows farmers are facing mental health challenges, difficulty accessing GPs and hospitals, and increasing isolation.
Many farmers in the region delay medical treatment due to the demands of their work, long travel distances, and the stigma around seeking mental health help.
Farmers in North Yorkshire face a health crisis, according to the independent health watchdog, Healthwatch
GB News
The North Yorkshire Healthwatch report found that 74 per cent of farmers out of the 220 they surveyed were dealing with physical pain, 42 per cent have stress and anxiety, and 31 per cent faced sleep problems.
GB News spoke to Andrew Sewell, Chairman of York East NFU at his farm near York. He runs the arable, dairy and poultry farm with his brother and elderly father, who bought it 1967. They own 300 acres and rent 300 acres of land.
He said: "Living in a rural area, you're obviously a fair way from hospital, you know you're 20 miles from a hospital and that's the same with the doctors as well.
"If you ring in a doctor up now, you can't just get access that day, you've got to book an appointment and could be 4 or 5 days before you can see a doctor.
"Mental health issues, unlike cancer and a broken leg, you know where you're seen fairly quickly, are not seen as a priority.
"So people go away at home and they sit there worrying or they drink or they'll do whatever they're going to do, until it gets probably too bad.
"But if you are struggling [with mental health] it's seen as a weakness, so maybe you just don't go."
The problem is not just local - it’s national and worsening, with 95 per cent of UK farmers under 40 citing mental health as a major concern, according to the Farmers Guide.
Worryingly, data from charity Samaritans shows suicide rates among farmers remain among the highest of any profession. Andrew Sewell, Chairman of York East NFU added that the constant pressure of unpredictable weather, political uncertainty and market forces take their toll on farmers, both physically and mentally.
He said: "We’ve had two wet harvests which hammers crop yields and you can't beat the weather, you've just got to work with it. But it's damn frustrating when you know everyday it rains that you're losing money, the income is going from you and the costs are adding up.
"It also puts pressure on people and machinery because nothing works as well when you're pushing it - you get breakdowns and farm accidents happen when we get long spells of wet weather and that all leads up to mental pressure as well."
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Along with the bad weather, Sewell said Labour's family farm tax is an added financial pressure and that his family now face paying £300,000 in inheritance tax.
"My father [aged 84] never says a great deal, but I know it's preying on his mind," he said.
"We were sort of hoping that after the budget, there might have been some concessions coming - it doesn't look like there's going to be.
"So now we have to get something quickly sorted out to get the farm turned over, and hopefully my dad lives seven years [to avoid inheritance tax]. He's 84 now - he may well do, but when you get to 84, then every day you wake up is a bonus.
"I'm not just saying it's me - there's a lot of my friends in the same situation.
"What we call the clawback would be a sensible solution, where you don't pay tax when you're passing it from one generation to another until that generation wants to sell it, and then that's when you pay the tax because you would have the cash."
The Healthwatch North Yorkshire report calls for mobile health clinics, flexible GP appointments, and targeted mental health outreach services for farmers in rural communities.
It also highlights the success of “farmer drop-in days” at GP surgeries in County Durham, where farmers can access health advice without disrupting their work.
Another suggested solution is to expand services like Field Nurse, which provides frontline health support in rural areas of Skipton, Bentham, Otley, and parts of Lancashire. Ashley Green, CEO of Healthwatch North Yorkshire, said: "We’ve heard from farmers who feel completely cut off from healthcare services.
"They’re struggling with their mental and physical health but keep going because they have no choice.
GB News spoke to Andrew Sewell, Chairman of York East NFU at his farm near York. He runs the arable, dairy and poultry farm with his brother and elderly father, who bought it 1967. They own 300 acres and rent 300 acres of land
GB News
"It’s simply not good enough. The system needs to adapt to serve rural communities, not the other way around."
Following the report, NHS Humber and North Yorkshire integrated care board is now introducing several initiatives aimed at supporting farming communities, including a new “healthy farmer” project planned for Hawes Farmers’ Mart in Richmond.
A spokesperson for NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) said: "We are grateful to members of our farming community for sharing their experiences and would like to thank Healthwatch North Yorkshire for carrying out this research.
"Ahead of the publication of the 10-year plan for the NHS, the Government has already signalled it would like to see more care shifted into neighbourhoods. Working with Healthwatch North Yorkshire and other partners, we are confident that together we can evolve our services so they can continue to meet the needs of people living and working in our more rural and remote areas.
"We already have a number of initiatives in the pipeline that will benefit our farming communities, and we will continue to work with Healthwatch North Yorkshire and other partners to see how we can thread the findings from this report into our future work."
The Government said its investing in the NHS to help farmers and is also working to boost profits for farmers.
A Government spokesperson said: “We understand the importance of mental health support and this Government is committed to tackling the mental health crisis in our farming communities. That’s why we are investing billions of pounds and recruiting 8,500 mental health professionals across the NHS.
“More widely, we are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce, reforming planning rules on farms to support food production, and making the supply chain work more fairly.”
To read the full Healthwatch North Yorkshire Ploughing Through the Barriers report, click here.
