Farmer mental health network gets new funding to expand supports

AgKnow, the Alberta Farmer Mental Health Network, is receiving $388,500 to expand its research and supports for farmers and ranchers.

The funding comes from the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which will invest $3.5 billion from federal, provincial, and territorial governments over the next five years to strengthen competitiveness, innovation and resiliency in agricultural sectors. The money will help AgKnow raise awareness for its programs and the mental health issues facing Alberta’s farmers, and develop new tools or resources to help them.

“It’s essential for AgKnow to continue bringing awareness on mental health and help farm families get the supports they need to manage life’s stressors," said Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson. "This funding will help advance farm mental health research and education while providing more resources for farmers and farm families.”

Farmers across Canada generally struggle with mental health problems such as stress, anxiety, and depression at higher rates than the rest of the population. Agricultural workers also die by suicide at rates higher than other professions.

Research by the AgKnow team identified several risk factors that make farmers vulnerable to mental health problems, and used it to craft programs that meet the needs of farmers and farming communities.

“Alberta farmers can feel immense pressures to support their families and to continue extensive family farm legacies. Through AgKnow, we’re de-stigmatizing farm mental health and making it easier for farmers to access therapy and counselling designed with their lifestyles in mind,” said AgKnow program director Linda Hunt Pag.

“With this grant, we’ll be able to expand our programming and develop more educational resources so therapists and counsellors across Alberta can better understand and serve farmers.”

AgKnow has a network of 12 therapists, all of whom have some connection with farming, and offers two free sessions to those in need. The organization also recently launched an agriculture-specific suicide awareness and prevention workshop that gives participants the tools to respond when they encounter someone with thoughts of suicide in their community or workplace.

“Our farmers and their families face unique demands and challenges as they work to feed Canada and the world,” said Lawrence MacAulay, federal minister of agriculture and agri-food.

These include economic disasters like consecutive crop failures, livestock disease that can wipe out herds or flocks, and the sizable loans farmers take out to keep the farm in operation, University of Alberta researcher and AgKnow team member Rebecca Purc-Stephenson said.

“All these loans can really build up and it weighs heavy on them," Purc-Stephenson said of cases she encountered during her research. "And for some of them who had had these consecutive poor yields across the years, they just felt stuck. And they didn't didn't feel that there was a way out of it other than choosing to die by suicide.”

These stressors can be compounded by stigma around mental health treatment in rural areas, which AgKnow is working to overcome through education campaigns and by connecting farmers with online, and more anonymous, counselling sessions. AgKnow has hosted more than 24 workshops and webinars this year alone, and has reached an estimated 1,500 people.