Reviving Rural – Staying Farm Fit for Farming Women

The two-year project promotes mental health and emotional wellbeing practices for farming families across Northern Ireland.

This week the team will launch their sixth digital campaign for Reviving Rural, focusing on women in farming and how to stay farm fit. Their message is about encouraging farming women to consider their physical and emotional health and how keeping ‘farm fit’ is essential for themselves and a thriving farm business.

Looking after your health is key to staying farm fit, allowing you to carry out everyday tasks and manage the demands of running a farm business. Through this digital campaign, Rural Support are providing helpful tips on how you can improve your fitness to farm through small changes you can incorporate into your daily routine.

The campaign features input from Vicki Byers on her thoughts on staying farm fit and how she achieves this. Vicki has lived and worked on the family dairy unit in Ballinamallard, Fermanagh since 2013 with her husband Dale and their three children. Vicki and her husband have gradually increased the dairy herd, whilst using good management practices and exploring genetics to improve the herd. They have only recently introduced sheep to the farm and have been enjoying lambing and getting the kids involved. In 2019 Vicki reduced from full-time work off-farm in an office job to 2 days a week, which she still enjoys.

Vicki recognises that as a woman in agriculture and a busy mum she needs to be able to meet the needs of what is required on the farm and what is required in home life. “I try not to skip meals and get a good night’s sleep because I am active from the minute I waken to the minute I go to bed and it’s all about trying to keep that energy – you are fuelled with good food and you are getting a good night’s sleep to keep you going throughout the day.”

Make sure you check out Rural Support’s social media channels to hear more from Vicki and ideas about how you can stay fit for farming.

This is the sixth of eight digital campaigns which form part of the Reviving Rural project. Reviving Rural is funded through the Mental Health Fund of the Department of Health via The Community Foundation Northern Ireland. Through delivery of this project Rural Support are continuing to take practical steps to support farmers and farming families in building resilience.

If you would like to find out more about this project and other services and programmes available at Rural Support, go to the NI Farm Support hub at www.ruralsupport.org.uk or telephone the Support Line on Freephone 0800 138 1678 available Mon-Fri 9am-9pm.