Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

A national crisis hotline has been launched with the aim of helping farmers cope with the unique stresses that come with running an agricultural operation.

Farming is one of the most demanding and high-stress occupations, according to health experts. And the stresses are intensifying as financial pressures from a growing list of circumstances and weather events multiple.

“The financial pressures, isolation and emotional demands of caring for livestock and crops can take a toll on mental health,” said officials with the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing, a national non-profit organization focused on the mental health of farmers in Canada, which launched the hotline on Feb. 4.

The service received $1.5 million in financial backing over three years from Farm Credit Canada.

It aims to help producers cope with what the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing describes as the “unique mental health challenges faced by Canada’s farmers, farm families and agricultural workers.”

The free service, which is available 24 hours a day, provides farmers with access to a confidential counselling service that is specifically tailored to help farmers, with personnel who have an understanding of the demands farmers face.

“Farm life comes with so many joys and celebrations. And yet, the challenges of farm life are often faced alone and without the needed supports,” said Justine Hendricks, president and CEO of Farm Credit Canada in a statement. “This partnership with CCAW is our commitment to Canadian farm families; to help provide access to critical mental health resources that reflect the realities of their daily lives.”

In a 2023 report by Canadian researchers that delved into the types of stress farmers experience showed farmers “attributed stress to a variety of chronic and episodic stressors, which they described as complexly interrelated, cumulative and overwhelming.”

“Farmers worldwide consistently score more severely on measures of stress than the general population,” states the study, funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, the University of Guelph and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “Recently, farmers in Canada have scored more severely on the Perceived Stress Scale than population norms.”

In Canada, the report continues, women and producers in the swine production sector experience the most stress.

Farmers can call the National Farmer Crisis Line at 1-866-FARMS01. All calls are confidential.