Message from Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Bell Let's Talk Day 2025

Jan 24, 2025

OTTAWA, ON, The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, issued the following statement to mark Bell Let's Talk Day:

"Our farmers work tirelessly to provide for their families and feed our communities. The realities of farming – long hours, time spent away from loved ones, and tough business decisions – can all have a direct impact on their mental health, and it is vital they have the support they need, when they need it.

That's why in 2024, the Government of Canada announced an investment of up to $1.08 million for the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing, to help support the mental health of farmers and provide agriculture literacy training to mental health professionals across the country. AgTalk by the Do More Agriculture Foundation is also available as a free and anonymous platform, available in both English and French, for folks to share the challenges they're facing with others who truly understand them.

As Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, I am committed to continue working with my provincial and territorial counterparts and community partners to help more farmers gain access to the mental health support they need, with services and tools that are tailored to their needs.

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Video: How American Farmers Harvest 1.15 Billion Pounds of Sunflowers

Across the open plains of North Dakota and South Dakota, sunflower fields turn the American landscape into a sea of gold. In this farming documentary, we go inside modern sunflower farming to see how farmers plant, grow, harvest, clean, dry, process, and transform sunflower seeds into valuable products used every day.

In 2024, American farmers harvested about 1.15 billion pounds of sunflowers. This video follows the full journey from warm spring planting to combine harvesting, seed cleaning, storage, oil extraction, refining, roasting, packaging, and animal feed production.

You will see how sunflower seeds are processed into cooking oil, roasted snacks, bakery ingredients, birdseed, livestock feed, and useful byproducts. From golden fields to modern processing plants, this is the story of how a beautiful flower becomes one of America’s important oilseed crops.

Watch until the end to discover how sunflower farming connects farmers, machines, factories, food production, and sustainable agriculture.