His commitment to connecting was recognised at last year’s Fieldays where he was named 2021 Rural Communicator of the Year.
This is an honour he has held onto for almost 18 months now, thanks to Covid disruptions postponing Fieldays to November this year.
Wiggins said he was ready to pass on the title at Mystery Creek next month and was looking forward to finding out who the recipient would be.
He was also recently approached by rural wellbeing programme Farmstrong, for an interview on what makes him tick.
Wiggy said his work was a natural fit with Farmstrong, especially when it came to connecting with people feeling isolated in remote areas.
“We’re [both] in, I would say, the trenches basically, getting stuck in to pick out those ones that are really remote and might not come to a Farmstrong evening or Farmstrong event.”
One way “Whatever with Wiggy” or “Agriconnect” got in touch with these isolated farmers was through service industry personnel, such as stock agents, bank managers, agronomists, accountants and vets, he said.
“A lot of them were saying, we’re seeing so much out there and we’re not trained to deal with it, or we don’t know what to do with our clients when they do come out and invest in us because we have that model of trust with them.
“Agriconnect was something that we started up where we get the service industries to know what’s available to support their clients and their colleagues in each area.”
Wiggins was “really happy” that Farmstrong recognised Agiconnect and “came on board to help me out”.
Through Agriconnect, he found that it wasn’t just those in the service industry who noticed when someone needed a helping hand.
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“Sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, grandparents – they also see this - as well as the partners.”
Mental wellbeing wasn’t gender-specific either, Wiggins said.
“Women … carry a huge burden of their own. There’s also stuff that affects them.”
Wiggins was also a Board of Trustee Chair at his local school, where he saw the effects of stress passed on to the younger generation.
“A lot of the schools are talking about the flow-on effects coming down through to our children as well.”
Therefore it was more important than ever to keep communication open when it came to mental wellbeing, not just for individuals but the whole community, he said.
“So it’s a big thing that we’re talking about here and once again that’s why I go back to - strong people make strong communities, strong communities make strong people.
“That’s the whole genre that I try to work in – empowering communities to look after themselves and recognise those signs.”
Also in today’s interview: Wiggins discussed land use change in Mid Canterbury.
