Shropshire councillor learns just how hard life is down on the farm

Julia Buckley put in a 12-hour shift at two farms near Hanwood this week to see for herself the stress those working in the agricultural industry face.

She has also voiced concerns about the future of the Shropshire Rural Support Charity and its Health Check Van service.

The Shropshire Council and Shropshire Rural Support partnership has been funded by grants, but Shropshire Council needs to secure fresh grant funding to ensure it can continue.

The van visits markets across the county and other venues giving farmers the chance to get medical checks like blood pressure measurements and dental and skin cancer help and also to chat to health professionals about any worries they might have.

Councillor Buckley, who is also Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Shrewsbury, was invited to Hall Farm, Cruckmeole by farmer Andrew Bebb,

He says issues farmers have faced recently range from Bovine TB to the price of grain since the Ukraine War began and complex Government subsidy application schemes.

When Councillor Buckley, turned up for a 12 hour day's work on Andrew Bebb's farm, he had already been out and about for three and a half hours.

And when she left at 9pm he still had hours of night-time lambing season chores ahead of him.

Andrew and his partner farm two properties in Shrewsbury and both are flat out in what it one of of the busiest times for them.

They invited Councillor Buckley, who is also Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Shrewsbury, to see the problems they face for herself.

After an initial meeting Councillor Buckley decided to go a step further and put in a shift, starting at Hall Farm, Cruckmeole.

"I arrived at 9am to find that Andrew had been up since 5.30am," she said.

The councillor was not afraid to roll up her sleeves with mucking out and giving silage to the cows not phasing her at all.

She said he was amazed by the amount of equipment and machinery that is now used on the farm, from in the milking parlour to out in the fields.

But she said that while on one hand the equipment had its plus sides there were also downsides.

"I can now see why farms are such a target for thieves, there is so much expensive equipment being used," she said.

"Also it used to be that there would be lots of farm hands doing the job. Now it is often one person and lots of machinery.

"That means that the camaraderie that I remember working on farms as a student in Yorkshire is now longer there. Farmers are working by themselves. They have to deal with everything on their own, from the physical work to the paperwork. And they have no-one to share the stress with.

"What did strike me what just how much farmers love and care for their animals."

Councillor Buckley is supporting Mr Bebb's work as a trustee with the Shropshire Rural Support charity.

Mr Bebb was instrumental in setting up the Health Check Van service with Shropshire Council’s support team, which visits cattle markets in Shropshire’s rural market towns.

It enables farmers to receive free medical check-ups including dental and skin cancer checks and the chance to talk to a medical professional about any concerns, thereby enabling referral to support services and an opportunity for prompt intervention. Many farmers present with mental health issues.

Mr Bebb said, “It has, without question, saved lives of farmers in our area and it is so important to keep this service going. I am very concerned that it is not affected by the council’s budget cuts.”

Responding to the concerns Shropshire Council has stressed that it cannot 'cut' the funding for the van – because it has never funded the service itself, instead paying for the support through grants.

However, the authority has confirmed it does need to secure future grant funding for the service to continue.

Councillor Celia Motley, the council's Conservative cabinet member for public health and adult social care, said: “Shropshire Council’s public health team do excellent work to support our most vulnerable communities, tackling health inequalities with preventative support, particularly in rural areas. This includes the health checks for the farming community, in partnership with Shropshire Rural Support, which launched in January 2023 at Shrewsbury livestock market.

“The award-winning programme has expanded to include livestock markets all around the county, with regular visits from the community wellbeing outreach team to carry out health checks and signpost valuable wellbeing support.

“This work has always been funded by temporary, one-off grant funding, initially arising from the pandemic and has continued to be supported through ring-fenced reserves. As such, it is not related to core council funding and therefore not within any of the saving plans in our Medium Term Financial Strategy.

“Officers are actively exploring new sources of funding and grants to extend our proactive outreach work. Over the lastthree3 years, our public health team have been successful in this, securing approximately £5m in external funds to support such activities.

“We remain committed to this approach. The Equality, Social Inclusion and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) in our Medium Term Financial Strategy highlights our continued commitment to working with vulnerable communities, including the preventative service to our most isolated at-risk residents.

"For example, this involves working closely with our community partners, including the voluntary sector, as part of a One Shropshire approach to combine existing resources and deliver services more efficiently.”