David Christian Rose

Although there has been a recent surge in research on drivers of poor farmer wellbeing and mental health, there is still a limited understanding of the state of wellbeing in farming communities around the world and how it can be best supported. This special issue seeks to extend our knowledge of how a combination of different stressors can challenge the wellbeing of farmers, farming families and farm workers, as well as how negative impacts can be unevenly distributed between different individuals. We advance the state of the art in research on farmer wellbeing, illustrating how social, economic and environmental policy drivers combine to create multiple points of stress, which are experienced differently by different individuals (e.g., age, gender). We move beyond an exploration of stressors towards a consideration of how landscapes of support for farmer wellbeing, and packages of support interventions, can improve the social resilience of farming communities. To be effective, these landscapes of support need to be accessible, well‐funded, joined‐up, and adaptable to evolving crises. This special issue explores farmer wellbeing in the context of global agricultural transitions, which are demanding new ways of farming (e.g., digitalisation, net zero, economic restructuring), and in light of shock events, such as the COVID‐19 pandemic, in four countries—Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the US. In exploring the impacts of future shock events and agricultural transitions on wellbeing, the issue concludes with a call to move beyond broad compilations of stressors and interventions and towards nuanced investigations of why and how poor farmer wellbeing occurs and how it can be best supported in specific contexts. The research from these four countries has wide relevance across European countries (similarity in farming systems, noting some differences), but a key message from the issue is that stressors on farmer wellbeing can be highly context‐dependent according to place‐based social, environmental, economic and political issues.

Poor mental health is an important and increasingly prevalent issue facing the farming industry. The adaptability of what we, in this article, describe as ‘landscapes of support’ for farming mental health is important to allow support systems to adapt successfully in times of crisis. The term ‘landscapes of support’ refers to the range of support sources available to farmers, including government, third sector bodies and farming/community groups. This article seeks to understand the factors influencing the adaptability of these landscapes of support, especially at a time of crisis. Using a case study of the UK, we undertook a literature review, interviews with 22 mental health support providers and an online survey of people within landscapes of support (93) and farmers themselves (207). We also held an end‐of‐project workshop. Using an adapted three‐point framework to assess adaptability, we found that support‐giving organisations adapted during the pandemic using a range of interventions (e.g., enhanced digital offering, use of media), but implementation was affected by organisational challenges (e.g., limited digital training, funding shortfalls, staff trauma) and operational constraints (e.g., lack of capacity, rural digital divide, tension between providers, stigma). We discuss how landscapes of support for farming mental health can be made more sustainable to deal with future shocks.