Business planning helps farmers cope

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This article was published 23/05/2020 (2162 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Researchers, politicians and farm leaders have long been flagging concerns about rising levels of stress and the overall state of mental health among farmers.

Meanwhile, farm-management professionals have worried about the relatively small proportion of farm business owners who follow written business and succession plans.

It turns out the two are connected.

A new report called Healthy Minds, Healthy Farms released this week by Farm Management Canada (FMC) connects the dots between the key stresses messing with farmers’ ability to cope and the degree to which those stresses can be reduced by a higher degree of business planning.

FMC worked with Wilton Consulting Group and Farm Credit Canada to review the research, survey farmers, conduct focus groups and do one-on-one interviews to tap into the psychological complications inherent to running a farm business.

Farmers tend to be more emotionally invested in their farms because that is where they live as well as work. They are often working land that is tied to their family heritage and there can be multiple generations engaged with the operation.

The top stressors cited by farmers were the unpredictability of markets, weather and production challenges, a heavy workload and financial uncertainties.

On top of that, imagine living with the possibility that you might wake up one morning to find your operation invaded by media-savvy activists scoring points for their cause, or opening up your social media account to hear how the work you take pride in is destroying the environment and the tools you use to support your crops cause cancer.

Fear of public censure also makes it harder for farmers to reach out for mental health help unless they can find resources staffed by people who understand their business.

It all eats away at one’s resilience and the effects can manifest themselves in a variety of ways, ranging from depression or anxiety to substance abuse to domestic violence. More often than not, cases of livestock neglect or abuse on farms can be traced back to the operator’s mental health.

While modern farms tend to be multi-million dollar businesses, the FMC report found only 21 per cent of farmers follow a written business plan. On one hand, it is amazing farmers can even function with all that’s going inside their heads. On the other, however, it’s becoming clear that all that cranial noise is taking a toll. Upwards of 62 per cent of Canadian farmers are expressing mid-level stress scores, with 14 per cent in the high-stress category.

Women and young farmers were more likely to report higher stress. Women not only work on farms, they are usually on the front lines of child care and often bring in off-farm income.

The report found that young farmers, who are more likely to be part of growing operations, were less equipped with healthy coping skills.

The FMC project looked at the connection between mental health and business management from two angles: how effective farm business management affects or supports farmer mental health and conversely, how mental health affects or supports farm business decision-making.

Researchers found a positive correlation from both perspectives.

Farmers who had business plans not only reported feeling less stress they were more apt to employ positive coping strategies for dealing with their stress.

It’s not that business planning can make the markets or weather more predictable or reduce the amount of work that needs doing, but it can set in place strategies to help farmers reduce their exposure to those market vagaries and it can show where some of that workload can be offloaded to external professionals. Knowing where you stand financially is empowering, even if the spreadsheet looks ugly.

When all of those worries, pressures and ideas swirling around in a farmer’s head get spilled onto a spreadsheet, the path forward and the steps to get there often become more clear.

The correlations are compelling and provide ammunition to those promoting increased business-management resources tailored specifically to farmers. Aside from the humanitarian need, these investments strengthen a sector fundamental to the health and security of Canadians.

Laura Rance is vice-president of content for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@farmmedia.com