A $450,000 funding announcement for the Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program (MFWP) made at Ag Days last week came as a surprise to Gerry Friesen.
“I feel overwhelmed, said Friesen, the CAO of the group. “You know, a lot of times when you get announcements like this, there’s somewhat of a lead-up. We were kind of caught by surprise.”
The funding was announced by Premier Wab Kinew and Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn during their remarks at the show on Jan. 16. The cash is being disbursed over three years and is funded through the provincial and federal governments through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
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“Success in the ag industry is really about the success of the people,” said Kinew. “We’re going to keep investing in services like mental health that we’re announcing here today. And it’s our firm belief that when the government is willing to put in the work on our side to support you, you are going to continue to be the backbone of our provincial economy for generations to come.”
Lawrence MacAulay, the federal agriculture minister, said the program stands out because of its focus on farmers.
“Farmers face unique stressors and challenges, but they don’t complain, and they always get the job done,” said MacAulay. “If they’re struggling with their mental health, we need to be there for them.”
The MFWP launched in March 2022 as Manitoba’s only free, one-on-one counselling service for farm families. However, its roots can be traced back to a 2016 University of Guelph survey. Over 1,100 responses were gathered via an online stress and resilience survey of farmers in 2015 and 2016.
In a 2016 release, Andria Jones-Bitton, a professor in the university’s Department of Population Medicine, said the results were disturbing and some comments quite sad.
“Some of the producer comments leave little doubt about the impact their job is having on them,” Jones-Bitton said. “One said, ‘We are not invincible, but we feel we must be.’ Another said, ‘What makes me the most upset is that I have everything I dreamed of — love, family and a farm — and all I feel is overwhelmed.’”
Not only did the study determine that Canadian farmers had significantly higher levels of chronic stress, depression, anxiety and burnout than the general population, but it also showed Canadian farmers have higher stress and anxiety than farmers in other parts of the world.
It found that 45 per cent of survey respondents had high stress. Another 58 per cent were classified as having varying levels of anxiety and 35 per cent had depression.
Overall, that’s two to four times higher than farmers studied in the United Kingdom and Norway, Jones-Bitton said.
That 2016 study was expanded in 2021, revealing that a shocking one-in-four farmers admitted to contemplating suicide. Those two studies were a clarion call to the industry that something needed to be done. It spurred the creation of several programs across the country, including the MFWP.
Since the MFWP was launched, the organization has been focused on fundraising and getting the word out about the program. And through those efforts, they’ve been able to expand the services they offer.
The program allows farmers and their immediate family members to access six free, confidential, one-on-one hour-long counselling sessions with a registered counsellor with a background in agriculture. Friesen said they expanded beyond farmers and their families at the beginning of this month.
“We opened it up to farm employees on January 1 of this year. I think it’s important to understand the fact that this is a program built by farmers for farmers. We had overwhelming support from the agricultural community in providing the funding that we needed to provide this for free.”
That said, Friesen is pleased that the government now appears to be recognizing the worth of the program.
“I believe the government has seen the importance of this to our agricultural community. They’re stepping up to the plate and I think as a big group, we can make things better for farmers and their families and employees.”
Friesen got word that the announcement was coming at the end of last week, and the organization is still working out what further improvements they can make with the additional funding.
“I don’t even want to blue-sky about this, because there’s so many things we can do,” said Friesen. “We’re going to have a board meeting in the very near future, and we’re going to look at this. We’re incredibly happy about it.”
MFWP counselling services are available during the day, evenings or on weekends to accommodate farmers’ schedules. They can be in person, by telephone or via video chat, depending on preference. To learn more about the program, visit ManitobaFarmerWellness.ca.
