FARMING is often seen in terms of the traditional cliches: it’s a tough life but also a bucolic and healthy one. But what happens when it all comes to an end?

The facts would seem to show that many farmers struggle. When they retire, some can end up pretty isolated in remote locations. They can be far away from the colleagues and friends they would regularly meet during their working lives and the result can be loneliness, depression or Alzheimer’s.

However, one scheme in Dumfries and Galloway is attempting to do something about it. The idea is that retired farmers from the area meet regularly and chew the fat with other farmers and it’s early days but it already seems to be working well.

It will not be easy in all cases of course. Farmers and other farm workers, particularly older ones and particularly men, can find it hard to admit to health problems or weaknesses let alone go to a group for help and assistance.

However, the need for the groups is clear: depression and loneliness is a real problem in rural areas. And what better time to think about expanding the scheme than Christmas? It’s a time when thousands of people in all kinds of communities, rural or urban, face spending the holiday alone. But it’s also a time when that most traditional of remedies – meeting, eating, chatting – can work wonders.