23 January 2008 -- The amount of stress you face in our job can have a direct biological impact on the body, raising the risk of heart disease, research has indicated.

There's always a few stressful moments in farming!! Stress study findings Those who reported stressful jobs appeared less likely to eat sufficient amounts of fruit and vegetables, and were less likely to exercise - problem drinking did not emerge as a significant problem in this study. Lifestyle, the researchers concluded, was nonetheless a key factor in the development of the disease. Stress appeared to upset the part of the nervous system which controls the heart, telling it how to work and controlling the variability of the heart rate. Those who reported stress were also recorded as having poor "vagal tone" - the impulses which regulate heartbeat. A major part of the neuroendocrine system - which releases hormones - also seemed to be disturbed by stress, evidenced by the fact that anxious workers had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the morning. Position While the younger worker seemed to be more at risk, the findings were the same regardless of the status of the worker. Previous studies had suggested those of lower employment grades may be more at risk.

Ironically, while farming is rated as one of the 10 most stressful occupations, most farmers say they wouldn't trade it for any other job. Do does that mean that farmers are better able to handle stress then their city counterparts?

Possibly. The stress study, which was reported in the European Heart Journal focused on more than 10,000 British civil servants.

Those under 50 who said their work was stressful were nearly 70% more likely to develop heart disease than the stress-free and those that were stressed had less time to exercise and eat well - but they also showed signs of important biochemical changes.

On the other hand, with farmers when stress has gone unrecognized and is not dealt with it can play havoc with the farm family and the farm operation. When stress levels get too high, farmers are more likely to make poor farming decisions and be involved in farm accidents. Relationships between spouses and between parents and children also suffer during stressful times, as can health.

Farming has many ongoing situations that can cause stress, such as large debt loads, the presence of government regulations, high interest rates, and lack of control over the weather. Farmers also face daily hassles including machinery breakdowns, long work hours, weather delays, livestock problems, unexpected interruptions, crop yield uncertainty, and disagreements with other family members in the operation.

No event or situation by itself is stressful. However, some kinds of events are likely to add more stress than other kinds of events.

Negative events are most likely to produce stress. Not too surprisingly, situations considered undesirable, such as bad weather or trouble with livestock, are more likely to cause stress than situations viewed as desirable.

Uncontrollable or unpredictable events are stressful. Many situations in farming are beyond human control, such as the weather, prices, government policies and operating costs.

Ambiguous events are often stressful. Stress is more likely to occur when it isn't clear what the problem is or how you can cope with it. For example, how do you know when to sell commodities?

Long lasting problems are more dangerous than short-term ones. Most families can get by for a while with a difficult situation. When the stress continues to build over months and years, it's harder to handle.

It's then that solutions and possibly relevant changes to lifesytle, farming practices etc must be looked at.