On the farm, fresh is best: Farmers share strategies for rest
An Australian-first initiative to improve fatigue management on farms has heard directly from busy primary producers about how they prioritise rest, safety and productivity.
CQUniversity researchers are compiling the practical advice for farmers, with farmers – with input from across dairy, cotton, eggs and grains sectors.
Now the project is creating useful guides to highlight causes, impacts and management strategies for fatigue on farms – and launching a new survey to grow understanding of farmers’ experiences.
Fatigue on-farm has been identified as an industry-wide priority for the Rural Safety & Health Alliance (RSHA), a collaborative partnership between AgriFutures Australia, Australian Eggs, Australian Wool Innovation, Australian Pork Ltd, Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Dairy Australia, and Grains Research and Development Corporation.
In collaboration with the RSHA, the Farming and Fatigue: Growing Sensible Solutions project aims to help industry measure and manage fatigue on-farm.
Amy Cosby is part of the project team from CQUniversity’s Agri-tech Education and Extension team as well as a dairy farmer and busy mum in Victoria’s Gippsland region.
She says the research is a first for the Australian agriculture sector and importantly, works with farmers to highlight effective habits for rest and wellbeing.
“What farmers have told us so far is that managing fatigue on farms is about more than hours in bed – it’s impacted by stress, and seasons, and weather, and of course the huge workloads involved with life on the land,” she said.
“But what we’ve also found, and what is certainly my personal experience, is that farmers also consider what they eat, how they exercise, how they schedule employee shifts, and even how they socialise, to try to get better rest, balance their life and avoid fatigue.
“We want producers to have a clear understanding of how their current working patterns can be tweaked to better manage the real risks of fatigue on farms,” Amy said.
The new survey will inform a Farming and Fatigue management guide, with tools to help farmers identify ‘hot spots’ – where and why fatigue might be an issue in their operation, and controls to reduce potential harm of fatigue without impacting production.
“We have people in the research team who run farms and have lived experience doing these jobs – we’re all excited to be contributing to this potentially life-saving project,” Amy said.
Cotton grower and Walgett Cotton Growers Association member Bernie Bierhoff said sector-wide input could boost fatigue management.
“We know there’s a real team aspect to managing fatigue in our workplace, and it’s not as simple as just telling people what to do or a tick-and-flick checklist,” he said.
“That’s why we’re keen to do the survey and contribute to the research. By coming to us farmers, the project will help us with how to manage fatigue for our farm environments and give us an idea of what others are doing that could be useful for us.”
Meeniyan dairy farmer Corinne Kelly agreed that farm safety meant getting proactive.
“It’s important for farmers like us to get on the front foot when it comes to managing fatigue,” she said.
“It was great to share tips and strategies and learn from other farmers’ knowledge at the workshop and see how this lines up with the science.
“The results of this project will give us confidence in how we practically manage fatigue in a way that works for us in our day-to-day operations on the dairy.”
CQUniversity’s Appleton Institute, and its Agricultural Education and Extension team, are working with AgHealth Australia at The University of Sydney to deliver the research.
By merging frontline agricultural insights with cutting-edge research, this project aims to deliver comprehensive, user-friendly guidance on fatigue management tailored to the unique demands of farming.
The RSHA is a collaborative partnership between Rural Research & Development Corporations, investing to improve primary production’s health and safety record through innovation.
Farmers can learn more and complete the anonymous Farming and Fatigue survey here.
