"Burn-out": very vulnerable farmers according to a departmental study

Overwork, lack of sleep and a feeling of no longer being in control of his destiny led to burnout more than a third of farmers in Saône-et-Loire in 2019, according to a rare background study on the subject, relating to this department alone.

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The Chamber of Agriculture of Saône-et-Loire had launched in 2018 a three-year survey, conducted in several waves by the Amarok Observatory, to measure the situations of professional fragility of women and men at the head of the 7,000 farms in the department.

The 2019 results, drawn from 427 questionnaires returned by farmers in the department, out of 4,000 sent by email, reveal an always high risk of exhaustion. Indeed, on this sample, 35.1% of farmers appear to be at risk of " burn-out ", according to data from this observatory created by Professor Olivier Torrès of the University of Montpellier who says he is " stunned " by this score , much higher than other categories of business leaders (17.5%). Various elements contribute to favoring this situation, according to Olivier Torrès.

The development of agricultural markets is not always well experienced by farmers. “ As soon as a farmer is on a form of globalized market, the prices of which are not negotiated, he feels that he no longer has control over his destiny. However, the feeling of mastering one's destiny is good for health, ”assures the researcher. " Farmers are men and women who work a lot and overwork is one of the determinants of burnout ", and on the sample analyzed, " they are on an extreme level ", according to Olivier Torrès. Only 9% work less than 40 hours, 77% work 50 hours, and 21% work more than 70 hours.

In addition, farmers are cutting back on their sleep time and sleeping less to work more. " While the average Frenchman sleeps 7:04 a night, the farmers are between 6:20 and 6:30, that's 150 to 200 hours less sleep at the end of the year, " said the researcher.

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As self-employed workers, farmers commit their own assets to be able to work, and in agriculture in the event of bankruptcy " they also have the feeling that they are winding up the family business, which means that when they wind up their box, they are in high suicidal danger ”, underlines Olivier Torrès. " There is a co-morbidity between burnout and the risk of suicide, " he explains, while stressing that " it's not the same thing ".

The questionnaires are anonymous, but the observatory gives respondents who have too high a score on the " Pines exhaustion scale " or " despair scale " the possibility of contacting a psychologist, or the Agri unit. -Listening launched by the Mutualité sociale agricole.