Dealing with the unpredictable nature of farming

Mental health was a big focus of the Thanks For Farming Tour held in Winkler last week.

One of the keynote speakers was Chris Beaudry, a farmer from Saskatchewan and also a coach with the 2017/18 Humboldt Broncos, the team involved in the bus accident.

The focus of Beaudry's presentation was the unpredictable nature of farming.

"When things get unpredictable, it brings out the stubbornness pattern in us. This pattern is developed early in life when situations that we can't control show up. Things get out of control. What do we learn as a child, how do we deal with that? We become hard, we become stubborn, and how does that show up today for us? Are we actually acting from a place of choice or are we just reacting from this stubborn pattern," he said.  "If you get a hail storm, if you get too much rain, not enough rain, how does that show up? How do we become hard and indecisive? Even in good times, if you have a good crop, what happens inside of you that makes you act from this pattern and not from a place of choice."