Farming is a high-pressure occupation that carries numerous risks for farmers, many of which are beyond their control.1 In Ireland, this pressure is borne by a shrinking population of farmers, most of them older men, working on a declining number of farms.2 As a result of these pressures, some farming populations have a higher prevalence of mental health issues,3 while some populations of farmers are known to drink heavily.4

However, alcohol use may vary dramatically and there is little research on farmers’ use of substances beyond alcohol. A 2023 study5 examined alcohol and substance use among 351 adult Irish farmers and investigated potential risk factors associated with disordered use. In this research, published in the Journal of Rural Health, disordered alcohol and substance use were classified using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Tool (AUDIT) and the Drug Use Disorders Identification Tool (DUDIT).

The main findings from this study are discussed below.

Alcohol use

In total, 71.8% of study participants used alcohol (n=252) and 29.1% presented with a score of ≥8 on the AUDIT, indicating hazardous and harmful alcohol use. In the entire sample, 2.8% of participants reported an alcohol/substance use disorder.

Participants with no children recorded significantly higher alcohol use than participants with children. There was a small negative association between alcohol use and net farm income (r=−0.13, p=0.026), while participants who were part-time farmers reported higher alcohol use than full-time farmers. Farmers with substance use issues also reported higher alcohol use scores than those without. There was a statistically significant association between alcohol use and off-farm roles; participants who were in full-time off-farm employment (x2=−35.0, p=0.005) or full-time education (x2=−76.5, p=0.021) reported higher alcohol use than those with no off-farm role.

Drug use

In total, 5.1% of participants reported drug use in the past year (n=18). Of the participants who indicated drug use, 77.8% were identified as having harmful substance use (n=14), while the prevalence of harmful substance use/abuse in the entire sample was 4.0%. Participants who were farming part-time reported higher drug use than full-time farmers. As with alcohol use, there was a statistically significant association between drug use and off-farm roles, with subjects who were in full-time off-farm employment (x2=−14.2, p=0.003) reporting higher drug use than those with no off-farm role or those in part-time off-farm employment (x2=−11.0, p=0.046).

In addition, participants in full-time education reported higher drug use than participants with no off-farm role (x2=−34.3, p=0.007) or those in part-time off-farm employment (x2=−31.2, p=0.017).

Conclusions

The authors noted that this population of Irish farmers reported broadly healthy alcohol and substance use behaviours. However, 2 of every 5 farmers who used alcohol and 4 of every 5 farmers who used drugs did so to harmful levels, potentially indicative of a substance use disorder. In addition, age was found to be the most important risk factor for disordered alcohol and substance use and correlated with other main risk factors: no children, part-time farmer, and full-time off-farm roles. They suggest that the results confirm the importance of analysing demographic factors and that younger farmers are especially at risk of harmful alcohol and drug use behaviours.

1    Brennan M, Hennessy T, Meredith D and Dillon E (2022) Weather, workload and money: determining and evaluating sources of stress for farmers in Ireland. J Agromed, 27(2): 132–142.

2    Central Statistics Office (2020) Census of Agriculture 2020 – preliminary results. Cork: Central Statistics Office. Available from:
https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-coa/censusofagriculture2020-preliminaryresults/

3    Hounsome B, Edwards RT, Hounsome N and Edwards-Jones G (2012) Psychological morbidity of farmers and non-farming population: results from a UK survey. Community Ment Health J, 48(4): 503–510.

4    Jarman DW, Naimi TS, Pickard SP, Daley WWR and De AK (2007) Binge drinking and occupation, North Dakota, 2004–2005. Prev Chronic Dis, 4(4): A94.

5    O’Connor S, Malone SM, Firnhaber J, O’Shaughnessy BR, McNamara JG and O’Hagan D (2023) Disordered alcohol and substance use in Irish farmers: a cross-sectional survey. J Rural Health, Early online. Available from:
https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/39225/