Farmer mental health in Canada: Associations with farm management and animal health and welfare

Breanna Zwick

Impact

  • The project's findings and analysis helped to shed light on the mental health challenges faced by beef farmers and identify stressors specific to their profession. It will also provide valuable insights into the potential link between farmer mental health and cattle health and production.

  • By collaborating with Farm Management Canada, the project aims to contribute to the development of better and more accessible mental health resources for farmers.

  • The project lays the groundwork for future studies, including interviews with dairy farmers and in-person cattle health measures to further explore the connections between farmer and animal health.

  • Manitoba

  • Studentship

  • University of Manitoba

  • Farm Management Canada

  • Mitacs

  • 2022

  • Stress, Anxiety, Depression

  • Farmers

About the Project

The project aimed to assess the mental health of beef farmers, including perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and resilience, and explore the connections between farmer mental health and cattle health, welfare, and production. It also sought to identify barriers to adopting best management practices and provide suggestions on addressing farmer needs through resources or further research. The study involved a survey containing mental health question sets and questions related to farming operations and animal production records.

Methodology

The project utilized a survey-based approach to collect data from beef farmers. The survey included various mental health questionnaires such as the Perceived Stress Scale, Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), GAD-7, and PHQ-9. It also incorporated questions to determine common stressors among farmers and how best to provide mental health support. A literature review was conducted to understand the existing research on the link between farmer health and cattle welfare and to identify gaps in knowledge.

Findings

As of now, the survey is still ongoing, and the preliminary data has indicated a sufficient number of responses to analyze the mental health questionnaires and stress-related questions. However, there were not enough animal health and production records received to draw any conclusions about the connection between farmer mental health and cattle health and production. The analysis of the data is planned to begin in August once the survey is closed, and additional responses are obtained.

Project Outreach

The project was based in Manitoba and has expanded to Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

Resources Created

The researcher team is still in the process of analyzing data.