Farmers are seeking support

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/11/2019 (2159 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An extremely dry summer, record rainfall in September, and an early winter storm in mid-October have resulted in an unusually stressful situation for Manitoba farmers as they struggle to get remaining crops out of the fields.

Keystone Agriculture Producers vice-president Jill Verwey farms with her family near Portage la Prairie. She said while the weather conditions have been terrible, international trade disputes and what is perceived as a lack of support coming from the federal government are making a bad situation worse.

“Mental stress is first and foremost in a lot of minds,” she said, after listening to KAP members speak at a recent advisory committee meeting in Brandon.

“We think of farmers as being resilient, but we are being faced with issues that are out of our control,” Verwey said.

Her own family is waiting to harvest about two-thirds of their soybean crop and silage corn to feed their cattle through the winter. The beans will have to be dried and corn feed likely supplemented for proper nutrition, both of which are extra costs.

Any crops that remain in fields over the winter will have to be cut in the spring, making the regular spring work that much more difficult.

Manitoba Farm, Rural and Northern Support Services program manager Janet Smith said calls and online live chat messages received are up by about 35 per cent over the number that came in at the same time in 2018. However, she said she expects this volume to rise over the coming months when farmers aren’t as busy as they are now.

“Often it’s after the fact that the stress occurs,” she said.

Smith added that farming culture promotes the idea of stoicism and keeping a stiff upper lip in the face of difficulty, but this model discourages farmers from reaching out for help. Long-term stress results in mental and physical problems, and can lead to suicide.

KAP president Bill Campbell recently took the unprecedented step of inviting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit his farm near Minto, Man. to see and hear about the difficulties faced by Prairie farmers first-hand.

Verwey said they feel that little attention was paid to the agricultural industry during the federal election campaign. She said KAP members want promised changes to agricultural support programs to be made and ideally more money put in to help farmers.

“There has been no increase in what is available to producers federally,” she said.

Campbell’s letter states that KAP doesn’t support the idea of western Canada separation, but calls for Trudeau to work together with farmers to ensure Canadian agriculture’s sustainability.

Confidential help available

Manitoba Farm, Rural and Northern Support Services is a Brandon-based organization that works in conjunction with Manitoba Suicide Prevention and Support through Klinic Community Health.

Program manager Janet Smith said there are five paid staff and 25 trained volunteers who answer calls and instant messages from Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. People can seek service seven days a week, 24 hours a day through supportline.ca

Smith said they offer information, support, counselling and referrals to those who contact them.

“We listen without judgement. It’s free and it’s confidential.”

She said anyone who is concerned about a farmer’s well-being is welcome to contact them. While anonymity is important, potentially saving a loved one, friend or neighbour’s life is even more important.

“We can do call-outs to people,” she said. This can be viewed as being intrusive, but she said in most cases the people who are contacted welcome the chance to speak with someone and get support.

For more information on Manitoba Farm, Rural and Northern Support Services, see https://supportline.ca

— Geary