A series of wellbeing workshops targeting farming communities is being delivered as part of Agriculture Victoria's Farm Business Resilience program, with the first to be held in Dimboola.
Agriculture Victoria Statewide Agriculture Recovery Manager Tess McDougall said the 'Take a Wellbeing Break' workshops are aiming to support social connection and collaboration in farming communities.
'The workshops will provide occasions to support farmers, farming families and rural communities with mental health, wellbeing and self-care.'
The National Farmer Wellbeing Report conducted by the National Farmers Federation in 2023 found that burnout and exhaustion are commonly reported in the farming community, with almost three quarters of farmers experiencing burnout of some kind in the last five years.
Mrs McDougall said farmers have faced a series of challenging events over recent years with the current dry seasonal conditions in some regions just the latest one to confront them.
The workshops will be facilitated by Cynthia Mahoney, an experienced facilitator and coach with a background in Agricultural Science. She says the workshops are designed to be fun and practical.
'They will bring farmers together to provide them with wellbeing tools and information, connect them and share ideas, and identify practical strategies they can immediately implement to positively impact their well-being.
'People often associate wellbeing with the serious topic of mental health and expect another workshop full of the same stuff.
'It is a weighty subject, and I have created something that is meant to be fun while also providing an opportunity for participants to talk about wellbeing in a serious way while they are doing it,' said Ms Mahoney.
The first of the workshops will be held at Dimboola on Wednesday 7 August from 6 to 8 pm and is supported by Wimmera Women Connect, Birchip Cropping Group, Hindmarsh Shire and Wimmera Southern Mallee Development.
Register for the Dimboola workshop at Trybooking or visit the Agriculture Victoria events page.
Other workshops are being planned for South-West Victoria, Northern Victoria and Gippsland, with details to be made available on Trybooking and the Agriculture Victoria website.
The workshops are funded by the Farm Business Resilience Program, which is jointly funded through the Australian Government's Future Drought Fund and the Victorian Government's Future Agriculture Skills Capacity Fund.
