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From the editor: Farming through the fog

From the editor: Farming through the fog

In 2016, the Hurunui District was in the grips of two years of drought.

North Canterbury is always dry over the summer, but this was different.

The paddocks turned from summer-dry brown to depleted silver-grey. It was as if all life had been sucked out of the ground.

We sent stock down South to graze, an expensive and soul-destroying process. It felt like the sky had forgotten how to rain and the situation felt relentless.

As with any adverse event, one positive outcome of such a dark time was how the community came together.

Like generations before us, we learned what it meant to be resilient.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, resilience is the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

It doesn’t mean we don’t fall or stumble. It means that if we fall, we get back up, and sometimes we need some help to do that.

As we looked around at our community, it became clear that farmers under stress needed to be given the opportunity to get off the farm and talk to each other about their struggles.

Often, when things are hard, you feel like you don’t have the energy or mental bandwidth to talk to other people or socialise, but that is precisely when it is most important to connect and reach out.

On the small scale, we organised dinners with the neighbours and social nights out with friends.

On a larger scale, with help from the Rural Support Trust and Agribusinesses, we held drought shout events and nights away to get farmers off the farm.

Through that drought, we learned coping strategies and practical things we could do to help our community get through.

Even in the eight years since that drought, we have become much better as a country at talking about mental health in general, especially in the rural space.

We have people like Kathryn Wright, Craig Wiggins, Wayne, Tyler Langford, and Matt Chisholm who keep the conversations open and accessible.

We have organisations like the Rural Support Trust and Farmstrong providing practical strategies to help farmers cope better with challenging times.

While none of this will change the weather, commodity prices, the rate of inflation or any other wolf that might be prowling outside the farm gate, it equips us with some tools to navigate those challenges in a healthier and more positive way.

Like most farmers across the country, Hurunui is once again doing it tough.

As I write this, the district is dealing with the effects of another drought after a dryer-than-normal Autumn that has left many farmers short of feed going into Winter.

Right now, New Zealand farmers are especially vulnerable to adverse events due to the broad challenges currently facing almost the entire agriculture sector.

It’s an important time to check in on our neighbours and friends, and take a proactive approach to well-being and caring for ourselves mentally and physically so we can remain resilient.

By Claire Inkson