The Irish Farmer's Association (IFA) has launched its 2025 Farmer Health Check Programme at Ballymahon Livestock Mart in Co Longford.
The initiative, run in partnership with Croí heart and stroke charity, aims to address health and wellbeing challenges faced by farming and rural communities.
The project started this week and will run until the end of October, with checks taking place at over 30 locations. including many livestock marts, across the country.
Farmers who attend can have their blood pressure and cholesterol checked, and receive lifestyle advice from Croí's clinical cardiovascular nurse team.
Funded by the Department of Agriculture, it follows a pilot programme last year that saw much more demand than expected from farmers for the service.
The 2024 health check found that nearly half of those who took part (over 1,200, which was 22% higher than the target) presented with elevated blood pressure or cholesterol levels.
Head of Patient Community Engagement with Croí Annie Costelloe said: "Basically, we are raising awareness, encouraging farmers to know their numbers and understand that their cardiovascular health is what's important."
Ms Costelloe added that the project is "about giving farmers the opportunity to avail of a check like this where they mightn't necessarily think about their own health".
"Lots of farmers that we meet may not have been at their GP or had a heart-health check or any kind of a check in five or ten years," she said.
She said that last year's pilot project found that "half of the farmers that we saw had high blood pressure, half of those we saw didn't know they had high blood pressure, and half of those that did know they had high blood pressure were not taking their medication as as they should be doing ... they don't understand the risk they have in terms of stroke or heart attack".
In 2024, many of those who participated said they valued the opportunity to discuss mental health concerns such as stress, anxiety, and depression.
IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs chair Teresa Roche said farming is a way of life that brings unique pressures and that "often the focus is on the health of our livestock and land rather than on our own health and wellbeing.
"This programme is a practical reminder that looking after yourself is part of running a strong, sustainable farm," she said.
IFA President Francie Gorman said the initiative "provides a great opportunity for farmers to participate in a health check process at a time and place that suits them".
"This year's launch is also timely as it falls during Farm Safety Week. Having peace of mind that your health is good is important in facing daily tasks that carry risks," he said.
The IFA said it wants to build on the success of last year’s pilot programme, and has set a target of getting more than 2,000 farmers to take part.
However, based on the response from farming and rural communities so far, it expects that targeted to be easily exceeded.
Farmer health checks will be set up at livestock marts across the country over the next 14 weeks, along with checks at the Tullamore Show next month and the National Ploughing Championships in September.
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