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Farmers: Mental Health

Asked by Charlotte CaneLiberal DemocratDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 27 October 2025UIN 83644

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 80143 on Farmers: Mental Health, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of farmers' mental health on levels of agricultural output.

Answered by Dame Angela Eagle

Levels of agricultural output are measured in our statistical publications and can be affected by a range of factors including prices, disease and the weather. Although we have not attributed changes in output to changes in mental health, Defra recognises that poor mental health can affect agricultural productivity and profitability. International evidence has also highlighted a bidirectional relationship between mental health and agricultural output at the farm level.

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