Due to the numerous and various bad weather events that have occurred in quick succession over the past few weeks, the harvest season may not bear the fruits that agricultural producers would have hoped. An additional weight that weighs heavily on the mental health of many of them.
“The weather really wasn’t on the producers’ side,” says Hélen Bourgoin, clinical coordinator at Listening to Agriculture, which offers a rank-and-file worker service in the Outaouais and the Laurentians.
“In May, we had frosts, and that delayed crops. Then there were the forest fires: according to farmers, the thick smoke blocked the sun’s rays, so there were plants that couldn’t grow enough, she continues. We had rain, tornadoes. Too much moisture leads to bacteria in plants. The two extremes: fire and drought, or floods. »
The weather, which has a huge influence on the productivity of the fields, therefore works against agricultural producers, whose livelihood depends on the quality and quantity of what they will bring out of the ground. “It’s as if the only thing that should help them is not going well, when they are already in debt and working very long days. It’s demoralizing and they have no control over it, ”illustrates Mme Bourgoin.
“It is the accumulation of several sources of stress and a large dose of uncertainty, almost without respite, that puts the mental health of producers to the test,” confirms Pierrette Desrosiers, a psychologist specializing in agriculture for more than 30 years.
Backlash expected at the end of the season
The organization Au coeur des familles agricole (ACFA), which deploys rank workers in ten administrative regions of Quebec, expects an increase in requests for psychological support in the coming months.
“I am thinking of market gardeners, especially family farmers, who have pre-sold baskets and who cannot deliver what they had promised and what they have already been paid for. It’s stressful for them not to offer what they wanted,” says Lysa-Pier Bolduc, rank-and-file worker in the Chaudière-Appalaches region.
We often see the impact that certain situations have on producers a posteriori because they will contact us after the season.
Generally, since producers are busy in the field, summer is a quieter season in terms of interventions, which allows row workers to intensify their prevention efforts. But this year, underlines Mme Bolduc, the number of requests for help has been much higher than usual.
It will be this fall that we will be able to measure the extent of the distress of certain producers, warns the director general of ACFA, Samuel Gosselin. “We often see the impact that certain situations have on producers a posteriori because they will contact us after the season, he notes. When they are in the present moment, they react. The adrenaline is there, they try to save the crops and reduce the impact of what is out of control. It’s when the stress drops that we get more calls. »
“On the other hand, we already know that some producers are going to have more difficult harvests this fall, but that they don’t know the extent of their losses, and others who have already lost everything. »
Mme Bourgoin abounds in this direction. “Right now, producers are in action and solution mode. We will see the repercussions in the fall, when they will be finished and they will realize that they need help, ”she notes.
Several factors
Apart from bad weather, other factors weigh on the mental health of agricultural producers, who do not always target a specific reason to explain their distress.
“In addition to the financial difficulties related to the operations of their business, producers can be affected by geopolitics,” underlines Mr. Gosselin. When there are international conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine, which has led to a reduction in Russian exports of inputs or Ukrainian cereals, that has an impact for producers. It may mean that those who don’t produce it themselves have to pay more to supply themselves in a context of scarcity, and it won’t give them more yield or better prices for their products. »
The closure of the port of Vancouver, due to a labor dispute, and China’s withdrawal from its pork imports into Canada also have consequences on the activities of Quebec farms, for example.
Pierrette Desrosiers also recalls that producers “are human beings who have a personal life too”. “In addition to their work, which requires almost superhuman effort, they have a family life, they can cope with illness and other hardships,” she notes. It’s the accumulation of all that that breaks the camel’s back. »
Small gesture, big effect
Although there are resources to help agricultural producers, Lysa-Pier Bolduc believes that everyone can support the guardians of our collective pantry. Whether it’s greeting a producer on his tractor when you pass him on the road or buying fresh local produce, every gesture of recognition counts and can help. “After all, we all need to eat,” she recalls.
Mme Desrosiers also believes it. “Beyond production, we need to know that what we do is appreciated,” she says. A little recognition can warm the heart. »
“And let’s not forget that, if we want healthy agriculture, we must have healthy producers as well,” she adds.