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climate change, covid, sanctions: the mental health of canadian farmers is being put to the test

canadian farmers are reporting high stress — with one-quarter having considered suicide — as well as increased alcohol use, social withdrawal, and poor sleep habits.

by robin roberts
published aug 16, 2022
read time 6 minute read
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read time 6 minute read
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farmer wellness becoming a priority in canada's agriculture industry
keith currie, vice-president of the canadian federation of agriculture, knows first-hand the challenges of working the land. supplied
without farms there is no food. it’s a familiar refrain from the agriculture community, and it’s true. we depend on farms and farmers for virtually everything we put in our mouths. but there couldn’t be a more volatile industry: what other line of work depends so heavily on a factor wholly outside their control as the weather? throw in a war, inflation, rising taxes and tariffs, and a whole crop of problems creeps in for farmers, including stress and thoughts of suicide.

sanctions on russia squeeze canadian farmers

keith currie, vice-president of the canadian federation of agriculture, knows first-hand the challenges of working the land. he runs an eighth generation dairy and cash crop farm in simcoe, ontario, and says there have always been bumps in a business responsible for feeding the world, and the latest — canada’s decision to impose tariffs on almost anything coming from russia, including fertilizer — is just one more to navigate.
“the war in ukraine has added a 35 per cent tariff on nitrogen,” he says.
nitrogen fertilizer is essential for growing crops, and currie says that while western canada is able to produce enough for its own fields, sharing it with eastern canada relies on rails, which is expensive. so farmers in the east source it from around the world, including russia.

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“i understand why the government did it,” says currie of the sanctions. “but we’re the only g7 country that’s charging a 35 per cent tariff to their farmers on anything coming in from russia. that puts us at a competitive disadvantage before we even have crops in the ground.”
as for helping to fill the export gap created by the war in ukraine, currie says, “we can to a certain extent, [but] a lot of farmers pre-sell their crop. can we increase production? yes, marginally. but when we’re paying an extra 35 per cent for nitrogen . . .”

growing your own food is nice, but it’s cheaper to buy

with inflation pinching the pocketbooks of most canadians, some are scoping out their backyard for a place to plant some produce of their own.
“it’s a good hobby, a nice way to learn about food,” says lenore newman, phd, director of the food and agriculture institute at b.c.’s university of the fraser valley and canada research chair, food security and environment. “is it efficient? probably not. if we look at the inputs required to grow those garden beans, it’s way cheaper to buy them at the store. community gardens are [also] nice to have, but it’s not where food comes from. those acres of blueberries, all those cows in the fields, and the buildings full of chickens? that’s where food comes from.”
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newman says a lot of people have misconceptions about “big agri” — that farmers are destroying the environment. but if it’s their livelihood, why would they wreck the very foundation on which their business is built?
“the public has a warped view and there are a lot of loud voices saying the industry is doing things wrong,” she says. “we shouldn’t be afraid of big. you have to be smart about it, and it depends on the crop, but overall, there’s nothing wrong with bigger farms as long as they’re done carefully and [follow] policies that push forward sustainability.”

mental health of farmers has deteriorated

when factors like the climate crisis, the pandemic, inflation, tariffs, diseases and pests are out of their control, many farmers are overcome with despair. andria jones-bitton, d.v.m., ph.d., professor, department of population medicine, and director of well-being programming, ontario veterinary college, recently followed up on a six-year-old national survey of farmers with colleagues briana hagen, phd, and rochelle thompson, msc., and found that farmers’ mental health has further deteriorated. increased alcohol use, social withdrawal, poor diet and sleep habits were all at concerning levels, primarily due to the pandemic. seventy-six per cent reported moderate or high stress, and roughly one-quarter had considered suicide.
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“the good news is that farmers are using strategies like problem solving, talking with others, trying to embrace a positive mindset, taking time to do activities they enjoy,” says jones-bitton. “the ontario federation of agriculture and the ontario division of the canadian mental health association have a farmer wellness program where farmers can get free counselling with a mental health professional who has been trained or has a background in agriculture. there’s a similar program in manitoba and quebec. it is getting better but it is still entirely insufficient.”
jones-bitton and her team will next study gender divide in farming, since women’s mental health fares worse than men’s due to extra demands on them in traditional domestic roles, issues facing lgbtq and seasonal agricultural workers, as well as stress management training to better support farmers’ resilience.
“we also need a national coordinated effort to support the mental health and well-being of all farmers, not just in a few provinces,” she says.

robotic milking and soil mapping help ease farmers’ burden

other tools that can help ease farmers’ burden lie in smart tech. some examples of automation in the field include sensors that read water levels, digital soil mapping and testing, yield monitors, technology that integrates satellite and weather information, and drone use.
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“by mapping the field with a drone to understand where weeds are and applying only herbicides to those precise points, you can use fewer chemicals, which is good for the farmer’s bottom line, is more environmentally sensitive, and is more sustainable from a greenhouse gas perspective,” says professor nazim cicek, phd, p.eng., professor in the department of biosystems engineering and faculty of agricultural & food sciences at the university of manitoba.
cicek says this smart tech has also been applied to livestock. robotic milking has been around a while, but more refined techniques allow the cow, for example, to get milked when it feels like it, and not on a farmer’s schedule. when bessie’s udder is full, she walks over to a robotic milking station where sensors scan her radio frequency identification tag for her unique profile, cleans and disinfects her, attaches the milking equipment that determines how much milk and pressure to apply, after which she gets a treat and walks away. the system then tests the milk for protein and fat content, as well as bacteria based on the somatic cell count. her tag also tells the robot which vitamin supplements she needs, her daily production of milk, stage of lactation, and whether she’s sick and needs to be isolated.
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“[also], with automated feeding you can custom feed individual animals based on their needs, their health data, their weight, etc.,” says cicek, who notes this kind of technology is more affordable and easier to use, and is therefore becoming more prevalent. “a phone app, for example, gives you information from your field, [such as] weather or soil moisture content.”
most of us have no idea how our food is produced, and some of us have misconceptions, so currie suggests a tour through a local farm.
“nobody’s hiding anything,” he says. “we want to [talk about] what we do because we produce great products in this country. people are usually fascinated by what we do.”
to learn more food facts, check out the canadian centre for food integrity.
 
robin roberts is a vancouver-based writer. 
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