The talk around the saleyards turned to mental health this week in north-east Victoria with livestock agents sporting a new look.
Staff from Elders Albury and Paull & Scollard Nurtrien Ag Solutions banded together at the monthly store cattle sale to wear brightly coloured "happy" shirts to raise money and awareness for mental health services.
Albury Elders livestock manager Brett Shea said, although the shirts were upbeat, the day was about addressing a serious issue.
"We decided to make this sale a mental health and suicide prevention awareness day," Mr Shea said.
"We ride the waves of up and down of the market and seasonal conditions and we are very close with our clients and colleagues.
"We see the challenges they face, and unfortunately we've seen far too many people take their lives in rural Australia.
"In our two companies, we have a lot of young staff and we want them to know that we're here to talk if they'd like to talk."
The sale started with six charity beasts, donated by local producers.
Along with online auctions of other donated goods, the day raised $58,000 to go to rural counselling service This Is A Conversation Starter (TIACS).
Among the crowd, many people had personal stories about the impacts of mental health on their communities and families.
Josh Deimel attended the sale with his parents Jon and Chris, brother Luke, sister-in-law Abby, niece Sophie, and nephew Oscar.
Mr Deimel's brother Steven took his own life 12 months ago, and the family wants more conversations about mental health.
"It's been a hard road, especially for Mum and Dad," Mr Deimel said.
"Even I know that mental health is hard to talk about, but we wish that people didn't and they could find comfort in talking to somebody.
"If you are suffering from mental health issues, it might not be easy to talk to family or friends, but pick up the phone and talk to an organisation.
"There's no shame in it."
Targeting blue-collar workers
Declining mental health remains a large issue for rural Australians who have restricted access to support services.
A report commissioned by the National Farmers Federation released in March this year found farmers were twice as likely to take their own lives compared with the general public.
According to The National Farmer Wellbeing Report, recent years of natural disasters such as bushfires, drought, and floods had led to a decline in mental health for farmers.
It also found more than half of farmers were not seeking support due to not wanting to burden family or friends with their problems or were not comfortable discussing them.
Head of partnerships for TIACS, Jason Banks said the free counselling service targeted blue-collar workers such as tradesmen and truck drivers, as well as farmers.
"We offer up to eight free counselling services without a GP referral required and our mission is to remove the barriers for blue-collar workers accessing help," Mr Banks said.
"The number one reason why people call us is relationships — with loved ones, family, and colleagues.
"It's followed by anxiety and financial struggles."
Mr Banks said the organisation was seeing an increase in people from the agriculture sector using their service.
"[Farming] is a very isolated role, they spend a lot of time on their own and they don't have lots of opportunity to connect with lots of people on a daily basis," he said.
"That's why it's important to start these conversations through work or down at the local pub."
Mr Banks said the organisation had received contact from more than 16,000 Australians since 2020, and the majority of their clients were men aged 30–45.
"70 per cent of our callers have never reached out for mental health support before," he said.
Donating a charity beast
Albury livestock agent David Hill purchased one of the charity steers for $4,000 and further donated the beast to local food share charity, Carevan.
"I've organised with a butcher to get it killed and cut up for free, so it should feed a lot of people for a few months," Mr Hill said.
"You'd get around 300 kilograms of meat out of it, so it should feed people for at least two months.
"Last year, I did a walk back in October for my niece, who passed away from leukaemia, and these blokes here supported that, so I'm here to support them.
"What goes around, comes around."
Mr Hill said the discussion around mental health in rural communities had changed a lot over the years.
"I think it's the new generation of people, the younger ones are more open to it but the older ones can be stuck in the mud a bit," he said.
"Hopefully this gets them talking."
