The Hidden Mental Health Crisis in Farming

Almost half (47%) of the UK farming community experience some form of anxiety and 35% of farmers are possibly or probably depressed.³

The pressures on farmers are enormous – isolation, long hours with few breaks, regulatory and financial pressures, hazardous and unpredictable conditions, plus the expectation of stoicism and the stigma around discussing mental health. But the impacts are not universally experienced across the whole sector. An industry survey of farmers found that those who farm animals suffer higher rates of depression than those who grow crops.⁴

A 2025 study revealed more about the emotional and moral burden farmers carry when they raise animals to be slaughtered.⁵ It found that 26% agreed that sending animals to slaughter has a negative impact on their mental health,⁶ with some reporting feelings of guilt, trauma, and distress.⁷ To cope with this, farmers commonly suppress their emotions but doing so has its own impacts, including immune system suppression, stress-induced cardiovascular reactivity, and even premature death.⁸

And while farmers struggle with the burden, the Big Ag execs who profit handsomely from the exploitative factory farming system, no doubt sleep just fine at night.