Stepping outside your comfort zone isn’t easy, but avoiding it can make challenges feel far bigger than they really are. Leaning into discomfort, rather than pushing it aside, can be the difference between staying stuck and moving forward. At the Advancing Women’s Conference in Calgary, Alta., Kimberly Lyall of Solutionary Leadership encouraged farmers and industry... Read More
Category: Mental Wellness
Time is a constant pressure point on cow-calf operations, but where it actually goes — and how well it’s understood — is often less clear. In this episode of Ruminating with RealAg, Brenda Schoepp, mentor and industry veteran, and Kathy Larson, agricultural economist with the University of Saskatchewan join host Amber Bell, to unpack how... Read More
Mental health continues to be a growing focus in agriculture, as farmers face increasing pressure from weather, markets, and the complexities of running multi-generational operations. In Alberta, the Agknow project has taken a closer look at what meaningful, farm-specific mental health support could look like, identifying both gaps and opportunities within the current system. Speaking... Read More
Setting clear boundaries plays an important role in avoiding burnout and maintaining long-term performance, especially in demanding careers. At the Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference in Calgary, Alta., Jennifer Keable encouraged attendees to take a closer look at how they set, and maintain, those boundaries. In her session, Breaking Free: Boundaries to Thrive, Not Just... Read More
Chris Scheetz, a longtime broadcaster and speaker from Thorsby, Alta., who has been named CCMA’s Personality of the Year five times over the course of his career, closed out the Crossroads Crop Conference in Edmonton, Alta., with a message rooted in small-town values and the enduring strength of the family farm. Speaking with RealAgriculture following... Read More
As October approaches, so does World Mental Health Awareness Month, and with it, the return of Talk It Out Tag, an awareness campaign designed to make mental health conversations more accessible across Canadian agriculture. To learn about what this game of tag entails, we ask Dr. Merle Massie, executive director of the Do More Ag... Read More
In an effort to support the mental health of farmers in Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has announced the Producer Mental Wellbeing Initiative. AAFC invites applications from for-profit and non-profit organizations, as well as individuals registered to do business in Canada, who can offer "innovative solutions to promote mental well-being and reduce stressors" affecting... Read More
What does it mean to struggle well? In 2006, then Major Mark Gasparotto, now retired as a Colonel, led the combat engineers during Operation Medusa in Afghanistan, Canada's largest combat mission since the Korean War. As a keynote speaker, Gasparotto now shares how the lessons learned on that mission, of leadership following friendly fire, of... Read More
Four times a year, RealAgristudies asks its Insights Panel the same series of questions regarding how they feel about an array of topics, from farm financial performance to capital investment timing and marketing the crop. Answers to the series of questions is compiled into the Canadian Farmer Sentiment Index, which was initially launched in September... Read More
The mental wellness program that offers up to nine free confidential counselling sessions per year to Manitoba farmers, farm families, and their employees has received charitable status from the Canada Revenue Agency. The designation is a milestone for the Manitoba Farm Wellness Program, says chair Marcel Hacault, in a Dec. 11 news release shared with... Read More