New entrant Chloe Lucas has thanked the farming community for 'saving her life'
As part of Mind Your Head Week, members of the farming industry have been sharing stories of their own mental health battles in order to raise awareness and to encourage others to seek support.
Chloe Lucas runs a small Highland Cattle herd in Wickford, Essex and says farming helped turn her life around following mental health 'breakdown' in 2020.
READ NOW: Mind Your Head Week: new training aims to combat farmer suicide rates
Chloe was a full-time paediatric nurse at the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic but as cases increased, her ward switched to care for the increasing number of very poorly adults who had contracted the virus. After years working in the NHS, Chloe suddenly found herself struggling to cope.
"Everyone on that ward passed away," she explains. "It was tough for me mentally but working in the NHS you feel you just have to carry on. But this time I could not manage it. I had a full breakdown basically and had to take time off."
Inspired by countryside and Clarkson
While Chloe was receiving treatment she found solace exploring the countryside.
"Being in nature makes me happy," she says. "Once I was feeling a bit better I started going out for walks. I would look at the farmland and it seemed to help me. Then I started watching farming programmes and when Clarkson's Farm arrived explaining farming to people who do not really know anything about it - which was me - it just made me think more about the land and where my food came from and who produces it.
"We just assume it appears on shelves in Tesco or Asda, but I wanted to know where the whole process started. I had got this fire in my belly and one day I said to my partner: ‘I am going to become a farmer'."
READ MORE: Report reveals mental health is 'steadily decreasing' in young farmers
With the seed planted Chloe did not waste any time on finding out more about her new vocation.
"I literally went from one farm to another putting letters through the door asking if they needed help. I even waved down tractors on the road to speak to them.
"It is so hard to get into and I did not know what else to do. You have got one life and what was the worst that could happen? They could tell me to get lost and leave them alone."
READ NOW: Careers Special - poultry industry welcomes new entrant
After just six weeks, Chloe landed her first voluntary position helping out on a beef and sheep farm. From there she travelled to Kent, Devon and Norfolk to familiarise herself with different farming systems.
"I have now done an artificial insemination course, learned to drive all the machinery and have my own smallholding with a herd Highland cattle which I graze as part of a Natural England scheme.
"I am hoping to get a bit more land but for me the main thing is that farming saved my life. It has improved my mental health 100%."
'Farming saved my life'
Chloe, who was a British Farming Award nominee in 2025, has been determined to share her personal story and that of farming with her local community, inviting the public on to her land to teach them about the breed and how farmers care for their livestock and crops.
"Farming has changed my life and helped me so much. Now all I want to do is act as an advocate for farmers. They are facing such difficulties every day but farming is in their bones and people should do more to understand and support our farmers.
"I cannot tell you how much they have done for me."
LISTEN NOW:
