Proper farm management can be a lifeline to good mental health, advocates say
Farmers Forum staff
OTTAWA — The difference between a happy farmer and his stressed-out neighbour can be as simple as the former starting the day with a to-do list and the latter flying by the seat of his pants.
Put simply, farm business management isn’t just about profitability, it’s a lifeline for mental wellbeing, according to Heather Watson, executive director at Farm Management Canada (FMC), a national organization promoting sound business practice in agriculture. And a key part of management is writing plans down, a skill that can be learned.
“We find from our research that farmers who follow a written plan — whether it’s a business plan, a transition plan, a risk management plan, an HR (human resources) plan, whatever the case may be — definitively, absolutely, measurably experience reduced stress, greater peace of mind, and family and farm-team harmony,” Watson said, during a presentation at the Ottawa Valley Farm Show last month.
That’s a key finding as FMC and University of Guelph research showed that 75 % farmers felt “chronically overstressed” and “overwhelmed” in 2020, she said. With the biggest driver of that stress — uncertainty and a feeling of a loss of control — looming larger than ever in 2025, she highlighted business planning as a healthy way of contending with the unpredictability.
Heather Watson
It’s even more important for female and young farmers who, according to FMC’s research, experience “much higher” stress than their male and older counterparts. Watson explained that women and younger farmers bear unique burdens around “family and farm harmony” and farm transition pressures, as they work on the farm but also are more likely to manage the children and the day-to-day family operations.
“So we find the young generation are really seeking clarity and confirmation on their role in the future of the farm,” she said. “And women tend to play a really significant role not just in the farm but also in transition planning…. We often call them the chief emotional officer.”
Co-presenter Rebecca Balsdon, stakeholder engagement specialist with the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, delved into the planning of human resources, outlining the hallmarks of an effective on-farm HR policy: clarity, consistency, transparency, legal compliance, and goal orientation. Human resources is more than recruiting, it means retaining employees. That also means retaining family employees by ensuring that work load is shared, that they are well-trained, supported and offered the opportunity to provide meaningful feedback. While farm managers need to plan their day, they will need to plan the day of their new employees as well, with clearly defined tasks. There’s no way around it. This preparation for the day can take time.
Rebecca Balsdon
Balsdon emphasized that written policies aren’t just for large operations — small family farms employing only family members can benefit too. “As a farmer myself, HR just seems like this big huge topic that’s for the corporate world, but really, it isn’t,” she said.
Fair distribution of the workload among those employed at the farm is a key objective of an HR policy, she said. A key end goal is an acceptable work-life balance for everyone involved, which is a classic challenge on the farm. “It is very hard when the farm is in your backyard, and the robot calls or you hear a moo, or you can see that there’s just another round of hay that needs to be cut. It’s very easy to not have that limit.”
She pointed out that 55 % of farm families otherwise report difficulty with their work-life balance, but those families that strike the right balance are 15 % more productive than their counterparts.
Unlike the corporate world, HR matters are often discussed around the farm family’s kitchen table, but Balsdon said this should occur during time specifically set aside for business. Don’t discuss it when the family is actually having dinner, she said.
