University of Guelph Professor Andria Jones-Bitton is building a team to create, deliver and evaluate a mental health literacy training program for farmers.
The idea will be to train people to recognize and respond to mental distress and reduce the stigma around mental health issues in Ontario's agricultural sector.
The team will include producers, industry reps, veterinarians and mental health professionals.
A survey conducted by Jones-Bitton suggests stress, anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion and burnout are all higher among farmers than other groups.
45 per cent of the respondents had high stress.
58 per cent were classified with varying levels of anxiety.
35 per cent reported depression.
Jones-Bitton says overall, that's 2 to 4 times higher than farmers studied in the United Kingdom and Norway.
However, she says more than three quarters of those surveyed said professional mental health services can be helpful in times of struggle, and almost as many said they would seek out such help.
