Farmstrong’s Live Well, Farm Well podcast: Corrigan Sowman

Golden Bay dairy farmer Corrigan Sowman with his sons. Photo / Farmstrong

This year, The Country radio show’s executive producer Rowena Duncum caught up with Farmstrong farmers from all over New Zealand to talk about how they tackle life’s challenges and look after their wellbeing. She was so impressed with the results, she decided to share their stories here.

Golden Bay dairy farmer Corrigan Sowman spent several years studying how farmers can best tackle the changes under way in agriculture.

Sowman was fortunate to be named a Nuffield Scholar and travel the world as part of the coursework, just before the Covid-19 global pandemic struck.

He found that when it comes to change, many farmers feel “under the pump” and often go into fight-or-flight mode in terms of their thinking.

Sowman is a fan of what All Blacks psychiatrist Dr Ceri Evans said about performing under pressure - how sometimes people need to “get comfortable with the uncomfortable”.

Here, he speaks to The Country’s Rowena Duncum about his Nuffield findings, how farmers can utilise Evans’ advice and how he manages to juggle farming with off-farm commitments.

Listen below:

What is Farmstrong?

Farming is a job with a unique set of challenges.

Many are hard to predict or control. They range from climate events like droughts and floods to fluctuations in commodity prices, changing government legislation and new technology.

Along with these external factors come the demands of running any business – financial and production planning, managing cash flow, hiring and managing staff, succession planning etc.

These pressures aren’t going to disappear, so it’s vital farmers develop the skills and resilience to cope.

Research shows many farmers are great at looking after their equipment and stock but, like other New Zealanders, they can neglect their own wellbeing.

As an industry, we can’t afford to let these pressures reach the point where they damage productivity and affect the lives of families.

Farmstrong is an initiative to help farmers, growers and their families cope with the ups and downs of farming by sharing things they can do to look after themselves and the people in their business.

Find out more about Farmstrong here.