The Hunter region is one of the worst drought-affected areas in NSW and some farmers are struggling to maintain their mental health, as well as their livelihoods.
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Farmers have needed on-the-ground support from qualified rural counsellors for some time, and now Rural Aid is providing just that.
Rural Aid launched its free counselling program in the Hunter last Tuesday. The program will connect farmers and their families with financial counsellors, resilience officers and networks in the area to better understand what is needed.
There are four counsellors dedicated to the Hunter – two in the Lower Hunter and two in the Upper Hunter –with the overall goal of eventually having the program offered across the country.
Cessnock resident Gary Bentley is one of the four counsellors, and said it was an interesting path that led him to his new role with Rural Aid.
Mr Bentley has been a counsellor for couple of years now, after spending 40 years as a journalist. He finds the two roles similar as both require communication and listening to people who just want to be heard.
He said the key idea behind the program is to make counselling services easily accessible to farmers in their workplace, without requiring them to have to go and see someone who is off their property.
"Rural Aid is looking for farmers who are in trouble, financially initially, and they help with a whole range of programs," Mr Bentley said.
However, the Rural Aid counsellors not only provide counselling services, but they also act as community representatives, where they spend a lot of their time promoting the charity.
“On my first day on the job, I found myself having to unload a truck-load of hay, which I hadn't done in many, many years so that was interesting,” Mr Bentley said.
Rural Aid has delivered 5000 bales of hay in the Hunter region since February, when Fairfax Media kicked off its Buy A Bale Hunter campaign.
On top of supplying hay, Rural Aid also supplies groceries for farmers who need it.
"The drought situation at the moment is just incredible," Mr Bentley said.
"It's the worst it's been for many, many years and it shows no sign of letting up."
For example, he recently visited a farm where a woman asked a farmer for a glass of water, and the farmer asked if she wouldn’t mind orange juice because they didn’t have much water. This made Mr Bentley realise just how bad the drought is.
A lack of water is a major concern, but also, hay is becoming harder to source as the drought gets worse, with hay supplies diminishing and farmers needing to hold onto whatever hay they have. This then leads to prices going up.
"It's a very expensive business to get hay in and that’s why a lot of farmers just can't do it,” Mr Bentley said.
"The farmer said yesterday he hoped to get two or three months out of the hay Rural Aid supplied, while they're just holding on keeping their fingers crossed that there is some rain in the meantime and things will turn around.
“But there is no knowing or predicting, and it's certainly looking grim at the moment."
Mr Bentley fears that the lack of water and stock feed leads many farmers to the tendency to feed their stock before they feed themselves.
"If they can't keep their stock, they have nothing to start with again when the season improves, so they're really desperately battling,” he said.
These factors combined can often lead to serious mental anguish for the farmers.
Mr Bentley said a challenge involved in helping farmers and their families is that they can sometimes be reluctant to accept the help, even when they desperately need it.
"The difficulty with the farming community is that farmers are very private people, they help themselves and they help each other, but they don't go looking for help and they find it embarrassing to accept help from the outside," he said.
"They desperately need someone to talk to, and counselling is just all about having someone to listen, as well as for the person to feel that they've been heard, that’s very important."
Another barrier for farmers to receive counselling is their inability to leave their properties and seek help.
"There has been no on-the-ground counselling service available up until now, certainly none that we're aware of," Mr Bentley said.
"There are places you can ring people, there are places you can text and get a response, and there are some counsellors out there you can physically go to.
“But farmers aren't going to leave their properties and go out to a counsellor that's in town, and that's if they can even find one to start with."
But now, with Rural Aid’s new program, counsellors can visit farmers at their homes, which is not only much more convenient for them, but also has the added benefit of confidentiality.
"People can feel secure in the knowledge that whatever they tell us will be kept private and we'll do our very best to help them,” Mr Bentley said.
“If we can't help them directly, then we will steer them to the available resources."
Rural Aid’s programs and services also include farm sitting, the Farm Army, Farm Rescue, the Under the Stars outback experience, the Rising Talent competition and school programs.
To find out more, visit ruralaid.org.au or call 1300 327 624.
- If you or someone you know needs immediate help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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