A French farmer is 20% more likely to take his life than others in French society. What a sad but perhaps understandable statistic. Financial pressures particularly with cattle farmers and social pressures are the cause.
A total of 485 farmers killed themselves between 2007 and 2009, making suicide the third biggest cause of death among agricultural workers after cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to a report published by the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) on Thursday.
A 2009 government report found that about 30 percent of male French farmers do not have a partner, with the rate rising among those in the 18-35 age group.
Strangely this was a problem I discussed with a french farming neighbour who has a son in his thirties, at that time whilst chatting I asked if he had a girlfriend. The neighbour explained that long hours working and then being out in the country he just did not have time to meet anyone.
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