A new University of Guelph survey shows no discernible improvements in farmer mental health since 2016.
Rochelle Thompson, U of G master of science student analyzed the responses from almost 1,200 Canadian farmers who filled out the Survey of Farmer Mental Health in Canada between February and May 2021.
The research team was led by U of G professor Andria Jones-Bitton along with post-doctoral researcher Briana Hagen.
The last survey on farmer mental health was from 2016 and Thompson said there were no improvements in farmer mental health when they analyzed the new responses in 2021.
“We were hoping that we would see improvement because the 2016 survey results were really concerning and sparked a lot of talk around farmer mental health,” said Thompson.
U of G researchers found 76 per cent of farmers said they are experiencing moderate or high perceived stress.
They also found one in four Canadian farmers considered ending their lives. This is the first time they looked at suicide ideation in the survey and suicide ideation was two times higher among farmers than the general population.
Farmers' responses in the survey said they had experienced more symptoms like anxiety, depression and stress since the start of the pandemic.
“Farmers' lives are intertwined with their work so closely. They live on their farm, their friends are fellow farmers, their community is all farmers. So they can’t really escape from work the same as most people can and that causes a lot of stress when you’re living, breathing work and can’t take any time off,” said Thompson.
There are other stressors farmers can’t control like weather, machinery breakdowns and changing government regulations, she explained.
“Participants who identified as women scored more severely on measures of anxiety, depression, perceived stress and emotional exhaustion than men,” said Thompson.
Thompson said the results for women farmers was surprising but unsurprising at the same time because they knew from the pandemic women in general had additional stressors because of the pandemic.
“Farming women often don’t identify themselves as farmers and see themselves more as a support to the farmer. So maybe have less recognition for the role on the farm and the work that they do and contribute to more unpaid labour on the farm,” said Thompson.
On another note, the survey did find farmers reported higher community belonging through the pandemic than the Canadian public. Thompson said this could be because farmers are often isolated so they have found ways to be connected, even if it isn’t in person, like through the phone.
“It can be a very isolating job. You often work on your own or with not a lot of people or supports around,” said Janet Harrop, dairy farmer and executive with Wellington Federation of Agriculture.
The pandemic made it more isolating with no farm producer meetings and church community gatherings it became even more isolating she said.
“Even prior to the pandemic there was a recognition of mental health concerns in the farming community,” said Harrop.
The pandemic also created a sense of unpredictability and increased costs she said.
“The big thing is, you know, farmer mentality, if there is a problem, fix it,” said Harrop.
She said there needs to be more conversations around mental wellness in the farming community.
“Mental wellness should be viewed as a strength,” said Harrop.