{"id":613393,"date":"2022-10-11T05:25:29","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T11:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cowsmo.com\/?p=613393"},"modified":"2022-10-11T05:25:29","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T11:25:29","slug":"words-of-wisdom-for-farm-teams-to-stay-in-top-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/?p=613393","title":{"rendered":"Words of Wisdom for Farm Teams to Stay in Top Form"},"content":{"rendered":"

A big focus for dairy farm teams is keeping cows in great condition. But to take good care of their cows, farmers also need to stay in top form themselves.<\/p>\n

\"mentalhealth_cowsmo22\"
Taranaki farmer Kane Brisco uses on-farm equipment like fence posts as part of his workout routine to keep physically and mentally fit. \u00a9DairyNZ<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To mark Mental Health Awareness week, Taranaki dairy farmer Kane Brisco joined a recent DairyNZ podcast to share some timely advice on how farmers could take care of themselves.<\/p>\n

Kane says he went through some challenging times as a sharemilker but he turned things around and rekindled his passion for farming, and life, by making some simple changes to his lifestyle and approach to dealing with stress.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got to a point where I couldn\u2019t see a light at the end of the tunnel. I lost my passion for farming, and got close to walking away from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

DairyNZ general manager farm performance Sarah Speight says Kane\u2019s advice is particularly timely for dairy farm teams, as they\u2019ve just come through the busiest period of the farming year \u2013 calving.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking time out is particularly important for both farm owners and staff in the short gap between finishing calving and the start of mating,\u201d says Sarah.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding out what your staff want to achieve \u2013 both personally and professionally \u2013 and considering how you can support them is also key to making your staff feel happy and valued. For example, if they love sport can you support them by adjusting your roster so they can attend practice and games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kane\u2019s tips to improve your condition score:<\/p>\n

Get fit<\/strong>
\nKane rebuilt his love for farming by starting boxing. Today, he has an on-farm gym and uses farm equipment like tractor tyres and fence posts as part of his fitness routine.<\/p>\n

Staying fit helps him cope with the physical and mental challenges he faces day-to-day. \u201cWhether it’s crossfit, running or pilates, you\u2019ll find your passion,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Eat well<\/strong>
\nFarmers know that ensuring their cows are getting the right nutrition is crucial to achieving good body condition and being highly productive. The same goes for you too!<\/p>\n

Kane says eating well was the next key step he took after getting fit to help him stay well.<\/p>\n

Take time out<\/strong>
\n\u201cTime out with the family to do things you enjoy, and getting off the farm, is really important to relax,\u201d says Kane.<\/p>\n

\u201cBalancing commitments to the farm, family and yourself isn\u2019t easy, and you have to keep working at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reframe how you see challenges<\/strong>
\nKane says how we react and deal with challenges has a big impact on stress levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of getting angry when something doesn\u2019t go the way I want it to, I think about what I want to achieve longer-term and then can break down how I want to get there.<\/p>\n

That means you switch from thinking negatively to problem-solving and developing constructive ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s ok to say you\u2019re not ok<\/strong>
\nKane encourages farm owners and managers to be open about the pressures they feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cSharing how you\u2019re feeling encourages other people in the farm team to speak up when they\u2019re feeling stressed. That helps everyone better address issues when they come up.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more tips on staying well, and to listen to Kane’s podcast, visit here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: DairyNZ<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A big focus for dairy farm teams is keeping cows in great condition. But to take good care of their cows, farmers also need to stay in top form themselves. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-613393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=613393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=613393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=613393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cowsmo.kinsta.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=613393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}