Chris Lowrey
PONTIAC March 12-18, 2018
When the term “agricultural safety” is mentioned, many people tend to think about the physical threats that exist on a farm that could maim or kill farmers.
But far too often, it’s the mental toll that many people don’t tend to think about.
A recent study done by the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph shows that 60 per cent of Canadian farmers experienced some level of anxiety, 35 per cent suffer from depression and 45 per cent suffer from high stress.
The study polled more than 1,100 farmers across the country between September 2015 and January 2016.
These numbers were two to four times higher than those recorded by farmers in the United Kingdom and Norway.
Although there is no recent data for Quebec, a 1987 study found that male farmers in the province have a suicide rate more than twice that of men in the general public. This obviously needs more study if the most contemporary data we have is 30 years old.
Even here in the Pontiac, this tragedy has played itself out before.
In the intervening years since the late 1980’s, farming has evolved drastically. Farmers are taking on larger and larger debt loads, larger plots of land and they’re doing it all with smaller profit margins on bigger operations.
Many of the stress triggers encountered by farmers are also beyond their control. Things like unpredictable weather, shifting economies of scale and crop and livestock diseases can have a huge impact on a farmer’s life in a short period of time.
Even the uncertainty of things like the ongoing NAFTA negotiations, which farmers have no say in, can exacerbate this problem.
Add in the fact that farming is a notoriously isolated career, and it’s no wonder farmers are dealing with a plethora of mental health issues.
Let’s also not forget about the fact that farmers are usually seen as a prototypical man’s man: the rock of the family, the strong silent type, someone who rarely loses control of their emotions.
But when a person is dealing with a massive stress load and is unable or unwilling to share their anxieties or worries, it makes it that much tougher to bear those burdens.
This is why there is an effort to open up avenues to farmers who are under incredible amounts of stress to speak to someone and get some help.
The Do More Agriculture Foundation is a national program that was launched in January to give farmers an avenue to speak about their stress.
“Our culture is built on strength, resilience and perseverance, but that can also be a weakness,” said Do More Agriculture founder Lesley Kelly in a recent CBC interview.
The campaign encourages farmers to use the hashtag #DoMoreAg to share their mental health stories on social media.
The survey conducted by the University of Guelph also found that 40 per cent of farmers said there was a stigma associated with reaching out for mental health help.
But with the recent success of Bell Let’s Talk Day and the Do It For Daron campaign, the stigma associated with mental health issues is beginning to erode.
Anyone looking for mental health assistance can visit the website www.domore.ag or call the Quebec Suicide Prevention Centre at 1-866-277-3553.
