Government of Canada supports farmers' mental health

Mar 10, 2023

OTTAWA, ON, - While participating at the inaugural National Symposium on Agricultural Mental Health, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, today announced the federal government's financial support to the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing (CCAW).

This investment of up to $168,440 will help the CCAW spread awareness of and multiply the resources available for the agricultural community. The mission of this new not-for-profit organization is to lead research and roll out initiatives in collaboration with community organizations across the country to address farmers' wellness challenges.

This funding contributed to, among other things, the creation of this inaugural National Symposium on Agricultural Mental Health, a conference organized by CCAW, in concert with The Guardian Network. Bringing together mental health groups, researchers, decision makers, agricultural associations and farmers, this conference addresses the challenges and opportunities of the mental health movement across the country.

The Government of Canada is continuing to explore ways with provincial and territorial partners that policies, programs and services can further support projects that specifically address the mental health issues of workers in the agricultural sector.

Source : Newswire.ca

Video: EP 65 Grazing Through Drought

Welcome to the conclusion of the Getting Through Drought series, where we look at the best management practices cow-calf producers in Alberta can use to build up their resiliency against drought.

Our hope is that the series can help with the mental health issues the agriculture sector is grappling with right now. Farming and ranching are stressful businesses, but that’s brought to a whole new level when drought hits. By equipping cow-calf producers with information and words of advice from colleagues and peers in the sector on the best ways to get through a drought, things might not be as stressful in the next drought. Things might not look so bleak either.

In this final episode of the series, we are talking to Ralph Thrall of McIntyre Ranch who shares with us his experience managing grass and cows in a pretty dry part of the province.