The Destructive Effects of Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles on Farmer Well-Being: Mental Health Consequences Outweigh Economic Losses
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
“Only a rifle and bullets will solve the problem”… “I would have killed him, but he stepped on the gas pedal and escaped”…. “we have violent incidents all the time”.Farmer 1
“My dream is a drone with an M72 LAW anti-armor weapon on it”.Farmer 2
“I do not go near them, because if I do, I will pull out a gun and shoot them”.Farmer 3
“I will not take anymore actions against it. We are hopeless. We do not know what to do… Some farmers will eventually lose their sanity”.Farmer 4
“We have been fighting a losing battle for many years”.Farmer 5
“We have surrendered. It is not easy to admit it. It is what it is”.Farmer 6
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Number | Question |
---|---|
Main survey | |
1 | Where are your fields located and what is their total size? |
2 | How long have you been a farmer? |
3 | How many ROV events do you experience in your fields every year, on average? |
4 | What is your assessment for the average size of the area in your fields that is damaged annually (in hectares)? |
5 | How many years ago did ROVs start affecting your fields? (1–20 years ago) |
6 | Do you think there is a trend in recent years in the severity of the phenomenon? |
7 | Are ROVs active in your fields mostly during the week or over the weekend? |
8 | What type of physical damage do ROVs cause in your fields? |
9 | What is the average yearly economic cost of ROV damage to your business? (setup and maintenance of barriers and signs, repairs, crop loss, etc.) |
10 | Have you ever tried placing physical obstacles or warning signs around your fields to prevent ROVs from entering? If so, what have you tried, and how effective was it? |
11 | Do you think you will use physical obstacles or warning signs in the future? |
12 | Did you report the events to the police in the past? |
13 | Do you think you will report events to the police in the future? |
14 | Can you elaborate on the effects of ROVs on you as a farmer and on your business? |
Complementary survey | |
15 * | All in all, when it comes to your net profit, how significant for you is the economic damage caused by ROV activity in your fields (on a scale of 1–10)? |
16 * | How significant for you are the negative emotional effects of ROV activity in your fields (on a scale of 1–10)? |
17 * | To what extent do you think ROV activity may negatively affect your motivation to continue working in agriculture in the future (on a scale of 1–10)? |
Farm Size (Hectares) | Number of Farms in the Category | Average Number of ROV Events per Year | Average Number of ROV Events per Year per 100 Hectares | Average Percentage of the Farm That Has Been Damaged by ROVs Every Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
Small (40–450) | 20 | 78 ± 24 (n = 11) (range: 2–300; median: 25) | 24.4 ± 9.9 (range: 1.6–100; median: 8.9) | 5.3 ± 1 (n = 13) (range: 0.01–10; median: 5) |
Medium (500–1000) | 13 | 38 ± 16.6 (n = 12) (range: 1–200; median: 15) | 6.3 ± 2.5 (range: 0.1–28.6; median: 2.5) | 2.6 ± 0.6 (n = 6) (range: 0.5–5; median: 2.5) |
Large (1150–2000) | 7 | 65.8 ± 37.6 (n = 6) (range: 5–250; median: 40) | 5 ± 3.4 (range: 0.3–21.7; median: 2.3) | 1.5 ± 1.2 (n = 4) (range: 0.02–5; median: 0.04) |
Very large (2200–5000) | 6 | 52 ± 25.4 (n = 5) (range: 10–150; median: 30) | 1.9 ± 1.2 (range: 0.4–6.8; median: 1) | 0.6 ± 0.4 (n = 3) (range: 0.03–1.5; median: 0.04) |
Number of farmers that did not answer question | 12 | 12 | 20 |
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Gish, M.; Shalmon, A.; Ayalon, O. The Destructive Effects of Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles on Farmer Well-Being: Mental Health Consequences Outweigh Economic Losses. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 4117. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054117
Gish M, Shalmon A, Ayalon O. The Destructive Effects of Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles on Farmer Well-Being: Mental Health Consequences Outweigh Economic Losses. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(5):4117. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054117
Chicago/Turabian StyleGish, Moshe, Aya Shalmon, and Ofira Ayalon. 2023. "The Destructive Effects of Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles on Farmer Well-Being: Mental Health Consequences Outweigh Economic Losses" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 5: 4117. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054117
APA StyleGish, M., Shalmon, A., & Ayalon, O. (2023). The Destructive Effects of Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles on Farmer Well-Being: Mental Health Consequences Outweigh Economic Losses. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), 4117. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054117