British farmers are more than twice as likely to consider suicide as people in other occupations, and the recent foot-and-mouth crisis may be partly to blame. Researchers at the University of Wales College of Medicine surveyed 425 farmers from 3 counties and compared their responses with those of nonfarmers. Ten percent of the farmers said they were suffering financial problems, and although only 6% admitted to having poor mental health — a figure lower than the national average — 3% said they thought life was not worth living and 1% had thought about killing themselves. (The researchers noted that farmers have easier access to different means of killing themselves, such as guns and poisons.) The average respondent was a 51-year-old male who had farmed for at least 16 years.

In June 2001, an investigation into the suicides of 3 Welsh farmers found that the men's deaths had been triggered by livestock disease: foot and mouth in 2 cases, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the other. One farmer's livestock had been declared free of disease and given clearance to be moved when a government notice prohibited the animals from leaving the farm. In another case, a farmer hung himself after a friend took away his gun when he threatened to shoot himself. Coroner John Hollis said disease had been a catastrophe for the 3 families, and urged farming organizations to provide more support for farm families.

Janet Gatward of the Rural Stress Information Network said that at the height of the foot-and-mouth outbreak the charity was receiving over 1000 calls per month from distressed farmers and their relatives. Although that epidemic is officially over, its after-effects are still being felt. The group now receives 20 to 30 calls per month, compared with 2 or 3 per month prior to the crisis.

Gatward noted that the problems facing many rural families, such as isolation and money woes, were already evident when the foot-and-mouth crisis erupted. — Mary Helen Spooner, West Sussex, UK