Imagine a world where farmers have a single point of access to a wealth of free information and support – whether it be for technical farming or business expertise, or for navigating tricky family dynamics or mental health issues. That is the service available to farmers in New York State in the USA, which is provided by NY FarmNet.
This organisation provides a free, confidential service offering holistic support for farmers in which, for the most part, financial and family consultants work as a team.
On Monday 27th November, Innovation for Agriculture’s midlands Immersion Centre group, which is working on understanding the links between animal welfare compliance and farmer wellbeing, welcomed Adam Howell and Becky Wiseman from NY FarmNet to hear how the organisation is helping farmers in New York State.
NY FarmNet was founded in response to a national farm crisis in which the original government response model focused only on providing agri-business expertise. However, they discovered that was only one part of the solution, as there were severe problems with family conflict, depression, addiction and other issues which financial consultants were ill-equipped to handle. This prompted the introduction of an integrated personal/family and financial consulting model which brought about much better outcomes by addressing the human issues affecting the farm business.
Farmers are encouraged to contact NY FarmNet when they have a simple query or would like a farm business health check. They can call any time with questions or concerns so that small things can be addressed early before they become disasters. The program is primarily State funded through the Office of Mental Health and Department of Agriculture and Markets. Despite its impressive success record to date, NY FarmNet refuses to become complacent and continues to advocate for agriculture and ensure the service is valued by politicians to maintain funding. They also work hard to ensure farmers know about the services available so invest heavily in communications, marketing and advertising to get the word out, as well as providing a stellar service which encourages word of mouth.
Holistic farming support services have real value. Adam shared this video which tells the story of Fred Lee, who was facing difficult times running his family’s Long Island farm. A call to New York FarmNet, and its free, confidential consultants, helped get him and the farm back on track.
In England, the Farming Resilience Fund offers free business support, but with widely reported problems with farm safety and farmer suicide rates in this country, funding the involvement of qualified professionals with family and mental wellbeing expertise could prove to be hugely beneficial. The midlands Immersion Centre group found hearing about NY FarmNet hugely inspiring and leads us to ask what could application of the integrated consulting model in the UK look like?
