Farming by its very nature is rather isolating. That’s good news in the midst of a national “social distancing” push in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. But being somewhat isolated doesn’t mean that farmers, their families, or their employees aren’t at risk. Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst, executive director at Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, says “There are lots… Read More
Negativity can really consume you, and in the current state of the world it’s so incredibly difficult to stay positive. Everything is cancelled. Lives are being turned upside down. Borders are closing. I struggle with clinical anxiety and depression. Winter is already tough. The hours of daylight are short, and the nights are cold. This… Read More
The Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) has hired Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton as OVC director of well-being programming. In this newly-created position, Jones-Bitton will provide well-being expertise founded on an understanding of current literature, focused training, and knowledge of emerging trends. “Andria brings a depth of knowledge and expertise in mental health and well-being research, particularly surrounding… Read More
A new mental health project that will see rural and remote communities develop action plans for improvements is underway in Alberta. The Canadian Mental Health Association, Alberta Division (CMHA AB), with $1.6 million in funding assistance from Alberta Health, is leading the Rural Mental Health Project with up to 150 rural and remote communities across… Read More
It stands to reason that someone with a Ph.D. in counselling psychology, and the first female performance consultant for several professional sports teams, may have some ideas for personal growth on leadership, stress, and attitude. “I was really fortunate that I started with the New York Rangers, and my actual first day on the job… Read More
What are your first thoughts when you wake up in the morning? Motivational speaker, author, and entrepreneur Darci Lang advocates for positivity. “Focus on the 90 per cent, is my message. [It’s] my belief that we all hold this big magnifying glass out in front of us in our lives, and we have a choice… Read More
We live in Canada and I get annoyed when people complain about the cold rather than embracing it. Much of society has become so accustomed to being comfortable all the time that when we hit an extreme cold stretch we lose our minds, even as Canadians. Yes, extreme cold is not ideal for machinery to… Read More
January 29th is Bell Let’s Talk Day, a day focused on raising awareness of mental health through social media sharing. Started in 2011, the day has raised millions of dollars for mental health support. At this year’s FarmTech held at Edmonton, Alta., farmer Christi Friesen took the time to sit in the RealAg Radio booth… Read More
When you are the executive director of an organization that emphasizes the importance of having a conversation, presentations are inevitable. Adelle Stewart, executive director of the Do More Ag Foundation, says that whether she speaks in front of an audience of five or 500, she’s just happy to have people to have the conversation with…. Read More
The Do More Ag Foundation has launched its second awareness campaign since forming back in 2017. It Starts With Me will focus on the language around mental health and how a small change of your words can have a huge impact on someone’s well-being. “Our words can have such a powerful impact, whether verbalized to others,… Read More
Farmers will hear much talk of the need for resilience in the years ahead. From weather and markets, to trade, to family and managing day-to-day operations, farmers need to be able to cope with the challenges and setbacks that are routinely part of production agriculture. No one personifies resilience more than Springfield, PEI, dairy farmer… Read More
The longevity of a business is less about how well it does in the good times, and more about how it fares through the rough patches. A farm being resilient can come in many forms, but usually comes down to the strength of the management team running it and the financial nimbleness of the overall… Read More
Ontario has introduced its draft legislation to increase security on farms — the Security From Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2019. The focus, certainly, is on the biosecurity and food risk associated with non-authorized people traipsing through farms and interfering with animals on their way to slaughter. The act, likely to be passed in… Read More
Working with family can be the most rewarding part of the farm business, but it also has the potential to be one of the most challenging aspects, full of emotion, relationship evolution, and conflict. In this episode of Mind Your Farm Business, host Shaun Haney is joined by Ed and Lyle Peters, father-son farm partners… Read More
The problem with stress is that while you’re in the thick of things, it can seem like there’s no end in sight. While a certain amount of stress is to be expected in the busy season of spring and fall on the farm, too much stress or not dealing with chronic stress can have both… Read More