Do More Ag continuing mental health efforts through pandemic into harvest

The Do More Agriculture Foundation has been busy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting its resources to an online basis to ensure it can continue to bring mental health awareness to producers across Canada.

Adelle Stewart, the non-profit’s executive director, said Wednesday her organization has adjusted its operations to reflect today’s real-world “new normal.”

Do More Ag has continued its initiatives, with two more online-based training sessions left this year. It didn’t cancel one of its 24 pieces of training throughout Canada in 2020, but talks around mental health have shifted through the pandemic as well.

“It has been more varied than usual,” Stewart said. “With COVID, it has been an extremely varied experience for producers, from some (who) are used to isolation … Some producers in (the) grain (or) pulse world had kids or family members home from schools or jobs that were closed — they actually had more help at home.”

For producers who relied on foreign workers, Stewart added the stress of possibly losing that work has been vast.

“They had more stress than probably ever in their lifetime. It has been a varied response with some being blessed (and others being) really heavily stressed on,” she explained.

As for the non-profit’s work in changing the discussion around mental health, that is continuing, Stewart said.

“We’re starting to see the conversation change, where we’re seeing (some) of our goals come to fruition. We were one of the first ones to stand up on the podium and say, ‘Hey, we’re here to talk about this.’ Now we’re starting to see other people start the conversation,” she explained. “We are starting to see that shift.”

Stewart stressed many of the factors are individualized when it comes to harvest time in Saskatchewan. With an early frost blanketing the province earlier in the week, some have struggled with it.

“It just puts added stress on. (Producers) are always watching the weather. It’s the stress of seeing it coming for the couple of weeks wondering if it’s going to happen and if it’s going to be as bad,” she said.

Stewart said there is still a lot of work to be done. She pointed to a May Farm Management Canada report which showed that Saskatchewan farmers’ mental well-being hasn’t been up to par with the rest of the country.

In the report, studies showed that Saskatchewan farmers were more likely to be less optimistic when it comes to small farms and new entrants to the industry.

In Saskatchewan, 44 per cent of respondents were less optimistic — the highest such number in the country. The study showed 43 per cent of Saskatchewan respondents were moderately optimistic and 13 per cent were highly optimistic.

Stewart added that the Farm Stress Line is a resource that continues to be pushed to struggling producers, along with resources on the Do More Ag website.

Stewart also pointed to the sk.211.ca website as an additional resource for those with stresses within the agricultural sector.