Nuffield Scholar Sarah Crosthwaite to research farmer resilience

Nuffield Scholars receive a $30,000 bursary to study innovative ideas, techniques and systems to benefit their businesses and the broader agricultural industry.

Recipient Sarah Crosthwaite, who is also a mental health professional, will investigate and evaluate programs and strategies that improve resilience and wellbeing in rural communities after natural disasters or climate issues.

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"What is there that we could be doing here that we're not doing now?" she said.

"If we don't actually have people who are doing well with their own mental wellbeing, they're not actually going to be doing that well on their own farms."

As part of her research, Ms Crosthwaite plans to examine farmer wellbeing programs in Canada, how United Kingdom farmers rebounded from the early 2000's foot and mouth outbreak and swine flu, the response to the north Queensland floods of 2011-12, as well as some resilience programs on the Border and North East.

"I'm curious to know what can we learn from these countries who've done that, so we can come back and build up this resilience and this understanding and this preparedness," she said.

"Because we know that things are going to happen, but if we're better prepared for it, then our mental health isn't as strongly as effected or we've got more tools in our tool kit."

According to Ms Crosthwaite, there is an definitive connection between the mental health of those who work on the land can influence rural communities.

"There's a flow on effect - farmers might not be spending up in town, they might be withdrawing from social events that they normally go to, they might pull out from being the president of the footy club," she said.

But she wanted to focus her research on what is doing well surrounding the issue, and recently read a Canadian report on healthy minds and healthy farms which was published this year.

She said the country's researchers have "done a good job of engaging a broad sector" from farmers, researchers and industry providers and felt there was much to be learned from their findings.

"For me, it's more about what's working well, because we do tend to talk about all the things that are going wrong, [like] lack of services, lack of support, lack of counselors and so forth, and they're all really important. topics to talk about," she said.

"I want to look at the strengths and see how we can improve those, because I think that there are a lot of great people doing amazing things out there. So it's about seeing if, if we can do better or if we're actually sitting at the top of dealing with the mental health of farmers."

Ms Crosthwaite who had always been working on a farm in dairy, had recently come back to the family farm in Kergunyah South in the mid 2000s, and not too long after decided to study rural mental health after hot weather conditions dropped people's morale.

"Everyone was doing it a bit tough, and then the Murray Goulburn milk crisis hit a lot of people quite quickly," she said.

"I took myself off as a mature age student in 2013 to university in Albury-Wodonga and I studied social work, with the real aim that I've always wanted to work with rural farming communities.

"I just felt that maybe there wasn't the initial support that people get if they live in a regional city or town, and once I finished university, I've been fortunate enough to work pretty much in that field."

She currently work for an organsation where she undertakes outreach to provide counseling and support for people that have been affected by bushfires and natural disasters, and is also member of the National Centre for Farmer Health Advisory Group.

It's a privilege to have people feel comfortable to share some of their stories and throughout her years working in the farming business lends herself to understand the needs of farmers.

Ms Crosthwaite - who is one of 19 Nuffield Scholars for 2022 - will collate her findings and present her report in 18 months.

This year, for the first time more women than men received the scholarships and the awards ceremony had been touted for the great diversity in what is currently researched in the Australian agricultural sector.

Ms Crosthwaite says its an indication that "agriculture is more than just what happens within the paddocks" and that organisations and businesses need to be looking further or wider.

"You don't have to be a farmer to be in agriculture, there's so many different career opportunities and choices and that's quite exciting," Ms Crosthwaite said.

"There's some incredibly intelligent people coming through making the industry even more powerful, andthat shows we need to be nurturing the next generation coming through in this industry, so that we've all got food and fibre on our tables for years to come."