The health of the farming community was the focus of a recent well-attended event held in Gunbower.
Harvesting Health saw over 200 people from across the district travel to the picturesque Gunbower Butter Factory and participate in a variety of free health checks, and listen to speakers talk about a variety of topics, including mental health and succession planning.
Organiser Mel Taylor said the event came about after her own experiences with mental health which saw her hospitalised when she was young.
“It has taken me almost 20 years to get to this point but here we are today and it has been amazing,” Mel said.
She said there were many things that contributed to mental health and it was also getting harder for people to prioritise and afford health checks.
“We thought we would combine it all in one free community event and here we are today.
“Our free skin checks booked out in two weeks and the health checks were also very popular.
“We have received so much community support and we are also very grateful for the support from all of our sponsors.”
Guest speaker the Unbreakable Farmer, Warren Davies, spoke about his own battle with mental health, which basically culminated in a decision to walk off the farm.
He also spoke about the difficulty of dealing with fractured relationships, particularly from a male perspective.
“As a farmer you keep pushing through and then one day you wake up and you are running on nothing but dust,” Warren said.
He said events like Harvesting Health provided an opportunity to share experiences, forge connections and build resilience.
Cheryl McKinnon travelled from Pyramid Hill.
She particularly enjoyed the succession planning discussion.
“It was brilliant and the information was very interesting. As a family we will follow up with our succession planning as we have been talking about it for a long time and this has been a catalyst for me to get moving on it,” Cheryl said.
Cohuna farmer Jodie Hay and her husband Col enjoyed the speakers and catching up with other farmers.
“It has been a really great event and good to see so many farmers here today,” Jodie said.
Cohuna dairy farmers Drew Gordon and Brodie McGillivray came along to support the event and participate in the health checks.
Drew said his wife really wanted him to come along while Brodie took advantage of the free health checks.
“It can be hard to find the time to get to the doctor so it has been great to have all the checks here in one place,” Brodie said.
This might have been the first Harvesting Health event but it certainly wont be the last.
Mel said they were in the process of incorporating the organisation and they had plans to take the event to other areas.
“Harvesting Health isn’t just for the farming community, it’s for everyone in a rural community and it’s about looking after your health and starting a conversation,” she said.