High Ground takes place on October 4-6, 2024, at the Cowichan Exhibition Grounds in Duncan, B.C. (Photo 74509974 © Openrangestock | Dreamstime.com)

By Harriette Halepis

Health network

Alberta’s AgKnow is changing the mental health and farming landscape

Jan 8, 2024 | 4:34 PM

There are 32 cannabis farms in Alberta, just a handful of the more than 30,000 farmers spread across the province. When Canada legalised cannabis in 2018, the industry was booming as several farmers switched crops and new companies opened businesses.

Still, now that the rush to grow cannabis has slowed, several of those cultivators are facing difficult times, along with traditional cattle and food farmers.

Income has always been a top concern in the agriculture industry and remains one of the most significant issues farmers face when growing any crop. Add constant worries about revenue to a quick growing season, and the inevitability of aging, and the result is a large number of farmers grappling with deteriorating mental health and, seemingly, nowhere to turn.

However, reaching out to a therapist seems impossible in a rural setting, and many farmers are under the impression that most wouldn’t understand the difficulty of running a farm.

“…there is an idea that support and services are not available in rural areas, so people just assume that that’s true and don’t look,” said Linda Hunt Pag, program director of the AgKnow Alberta Farm Mental Health Network.

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Another issue farmers face when seeking mental health help is the pride-fueled stereotype that farming should be challenging and that farm life has always been and always will be a struggle.

“…working hard under less than ideal circumstances is expected in farming, and so often people aren’t aren’t looking for an alternative. They don’t see what they are doing, what they have always done as being a problem; it’s just how it is,” she said, “…there is Canadian research that shows that farmers don’t think counsellors will understand, so don’t bother reaching out or engaging with support programs.”

Changing the stigma that surrounds farming is what Hunt Pag and her team aim to do with outreach programs, resources, workshops, and media advertising. AgKnow is an initiative of ARECA and is currently funded by the province to work on an Alberta approach to supporting farmers and their families.

ARECA is a non-profit organization supporting a network of farmer associations to deliver key research and encourage the adoption of innovative best practices on farms including looking after their wellbeing. While there is no guarantee of continued funding, they are optimistic the province will continue to support AgKnow past the current grant, which ends March 31, 2024.

While farmers were slow to seek help through AgKnow, Hunt Pag said that queries are picking up as the Alberta agriculture industry learns that services are available. The therapists promoted through the AgKnow initiative either grew up on a farm, have experience with farm clients, or are farmers themselves putting them in a unique position to understand the struggles farmers contend with.

Traditionally, older farmers shift from running a farm to sitting on the sidelines as younger generations take over. This was a lot easier in the past when land values were low because there was less pressure to use the land for other development. Now, the high cost of land can be a huge obstacle for transitioning farms to the next generation.

“…sky rocketing land prices and an industry that is structured financially for established farms with high equity means the cash flow doesn’t exist to cover the costs of a start up and the risk,” Hunt Pag said, “…it used to be that as long as you had a full-time off farm job in the family to cover the risk, you could in one generation build a farm to be a full-time enterprise. I would be surprised if that is possible now.”

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