Isolation can be a contributory factor

A helpline set up to help farmers following the foot-and-mouth crisis it still getting dozens of calls for help every week.

The Rural Stress Information Network gets up to 130 calls a week - with a third of them coming from Wales.

Last year alone, 11 farmers in Wales killed themselves, out of a total of 54 in the whole of Britain.

Helpline organisers are worried about the continuing demand for the service, two years after it was launched.

Continuing concerns about finances, including the implications of the forthcoming subsidy reforms, mean many people are still in need of someone to talk to.

James Morris, from the network, said the majority of the farming community had managed to pick itself up in the wake of foot-and-mouth, but some farmers in remote areas were still deeply affected.

"From the calls we hear, there are some serious problems still out there, and every so often, there is a tragedy and a farm worker takes his own life," he told Radio Wales.

Calls from women

Mr Morris said the isolation of many small, family-run Welsh farms - those between 100 and 200 acres - could be a contributory factor.

And it is not just stress affecting farmers that keeps the helpline busy, Mr Morris said.

More than 70% of the calls came from women - many stressed because they are the ones at home answering the phone to suppliers who have not been paid, but others reporting violence in the home.

"Domestic violence is somethng that concerns us immensely," he said.

"We regularly hear of from female callers who are very concerned about the safety and well-being of themselves and of others in the family."