The federal government has stepped in to top up provincial funding for workplace health and safety measures on-farm in Ontario. Agriculture and Agri-Food minister Marie-Claude Bibeau previously announced $35 million for a federally-administered program, and this week, announced $11.6 million for the Ontario version — the Enhanced Agri-food Workplace Protection Program (EAWPP). Originally announced in... Read More
Category: Health & Wellness
The national rural mental health training program, presented by the Do More Agriculture Foundation (DMA) and Farm Credit Canada, is entering its third year. Applications are now open for the next year of training. The education program is focused on mental health in the ag sector and is aimed at developing the capacity for mental... Read More
The federal government has opened applications for the Emergency On-Farm Support Fund, a $35 million fund to cover the added cost of personal protective equipment, updates to worker housing, and sanitization stations, as examples. The fund was originally announced in late July as part of a $58.6 million commitment by the government. Money can be... Read More
Hi, my name is Kara, and my go-to conversation topic, if it's not agriculture, is music. I live and breathe music. I believe it's something that can bring people together in ways that other things simply can't. Recently, I took to Twitter asking our readers and listeners to send me their favourite tunes as many... Read More
You can't pour from an empty cup. Put another way, if you can't take care of you, you can't take care of others, including livestock. The connection between farmers' own mental wellness and livestock care is a direct link; in many cases of animal welfare complaints, the root cause is a stressed and/or mentally ill... Read More
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW Canada) recently presented to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit to advocate for better health and safety protections for migrant workers labouring in the Windsor, Ont., area. The county and area has been hard hit by COVID-19 at local farms and farm businesses, including hundreds of positive cases... Read More
With nearly all farm shows and in-person events cancelled or moved online, a community event is rather rare this time of year. And that's proving rather challenging for many rural communities who are so used to using the warm summer field days as a way to learn, connect, and maybe even commiserate in the beverage... Read More
A new mobile app is under development to help farmers track their mental health and link them with supports, says the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. The app is the result of a partnership between Innovation Saskatchewan, the Ministry of Agriculture, and Bridges Health, out of Saskatoon, after being selected out of the province-wide Innovation Challenge... Read More
Just like farmers take pride in putting in the hard work and long hours to see a job done, now is not the time to take our foot off the gas of the mental health and wellness conversation in agriculture. "I can understand how people can start to be feeling burnt out about hearing about... Read More
Father's Day for many farm families involves a BBQ, gifts, maybe some golf, and likely some farm work if the weather is right for spraying. Like mothers, fathers play an integral role in the family farm business. For any family business there are smooth days, rocky ones and outright turbulent days that test the ties... Read More