The array of farms and Victorian grassland affected by drought spans across the horizon like a sea of greys and browns. Farmers must do their best to keep it nourished and healthy.

As global temperatures rise, a long-term shift in rainfall has been the result, driven thunderously by the disruption of the circulation of cool and warm air.

Farmers have felt constant stress in their livelihood due to drought, which has increased this year enormously, with plummeting farm finances and mounting costs increasing mental health risks.

Tim Hipkin, a farmer from Red Hill, in Victoria’s Southeast, has had his own opinions on farmers’ mental health issues due to drought.

“It’s been a problem that’s plagued farmers since we first settled into Australia.” Hipkin says, “and has hardly been easier to deal with in spite of advances in technology and farming processes.”

Hipkin says his extended family in Buchan have been forced out of farming altogether.

“Urgent care needs to be given to farmers to support their mental health as well as their business in the form of reduced taxes,” he says. “A big experience in farming is the ongoing costs of running a business that could potentially operate at a loss.”

According to the Let’s Talk Foundation, 75 percent of all farmers in Victoria fail to reach out to their peers or community, leading to a farmer dying every 10 days.

According to the Australian Government, suicide rates among farmers are 94 percent higher than non-farmers.

It is an issue that the Victorian Government has especially tried to tackle. According to Agriculture Victoria, 14 percent of workplace fatalities are from farmers, with 83 percent reporting safety risks.

The Victorian Farmers Federation released a handbook named ‘Harvesting Change’ at the start of the year. It is a supportive guidebook, free to all struggling Victorian farmers, offering practical mental health tips, information, and help to struggling farmerswho may need it.

The Victorian Government has said it has have allocated $144 million to support farmers, including a Drought Support Package.

This story is part of a project exploring regional Victoria and the issues farmers are facing. See the whole collection here.