Farmer counselling program sees busy year

The Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program is on track to provide more counselling sessions to farmers than last year.

The charity had provided 570 free counselling sessions by the end of August, pacing ahead of last year’s 750 sessions recorded by the end of the year, the chair of the program, Roberta Galbraith, said in a recent interview. The pace follows after the organization expanded its reach and built roots in the community, she said.

“We’re seeing an increase in the number of people that are accessing the program, but also the number of sessions that people are accessing,” Galbraith said.

“So it’s sort of two different things. People are connecting with the program, they kind of get started, and then they stick around and spend a bit more time (using it).”

The Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program provides nine free counselling sessions to farmers and farm workers in the province. Counsellors are made available in several areas of the province and are chosen based on having some background in agriculture to understand farmer-specific issues.

The program saw a 42 per cent increase last year in the number of sessions provided, and currently serves four-times more people than during its launch year in 2022, Galbraith said. She said she believes the growth is attributable to an increasing awareness of the program and a decreasing stigma surrounding mental health in the farming community.

“We’ve really tried to pound the pavement and let people know that there’s a program out there that they can access. And as a result, I think our numbers are up,” she said.

“Initially we had a great program, but nobody knew about it.”

“I also think that there’s a shift happening around stigma with mental health.

“There’s much more discussion around mental health and well-being.

“There’s much more discussion around suicide, crisis lines, checking in on your neighbour, on your friend, and trying to see the signs.”

The difficult farming year in 2026 — that included stressors on farmers such as heavy rain during harvest time, dust storms early in the season, tariffs and unstable fuel prices — may explain some of the uptake, but it is probably a small factor, she said.

“It may be the thing that’s broke the camel’s back, but it’s probably not the main reason,” Galbraith said.

“It’s not always markets and tariffs and weather that determine why somebody comes to talk to the counsellors.”

A gamut of subjects define the sessions, including marriage, parenting, succession planning and addictions, counsellors have said.

To accomodate growth, the program added an additional counsellor in 2026, and a list of counsellors to draw from, Galbraith said. The program also partnered in 2026 with the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing to set up a 24-7 crisis line.

The crisis line addresses immediate concerns, and also connects the caller with one of the Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program counsellors, she said. The goal is to provide continued support after the initial call, she said.

“We’re not dropping you after the crisis has been averted, we’re hooking you up with one of our counsellors that is in our program here in Manitoba.”

The extra counsellors would be called upon if wait times stretch too long, she said. The program is also prepared to add new counsellors if uptake continues to grow, she said.

“We can absolutely add another counsellor if our counselors are telling us that they are overwhelmed and wait times are getting longer. We’ve been very clear with them that if wait times get longer, we’ll add more.”

The program has also increased its free sessions from six to nine in recent years as a way to accommodate growing use from farmers.

Gerry Friesen, co-founder and chief administrative officer of the wellness program, said the growth of the service is a double-edged sword.

“I always say it’s a bad news, good news story,” he said. “The bad news is we need it. The good news is it’s being utilized.”

Friesen said that during his years promoting mental health at events like Ag Days, farmers have grown more comfortable about discussing the subject. He thinks that is part of the reason the program is growing steadily.

“When I first talked publicly about my own journey with mental illness when I was farming, at the time there’d be one or two people that would step up and say, ‘Oh gosh, you know what? I know what you’re talking about.’ There’s a much higher level of comfort now with people stepping forward.”

The flagship promotional event to connect with farmers is Ag Days in Brandon, he said.

Friesen said it’s good to see the service reach new people, and he’s happy to see it succeed.

”I see that it does have a positive effect,” he said. “That makes me realize that the program is really working.”

The program has under 18 months remaining of funding support from the Manitoba government, Galbraith said. The organization believes the province is a strong supporter, and is not worried about losing funding in the future, she said — but the board is currently discussing possible changes as the organization looks to continue providing services.

Galbraith said that roughly 90 per cent of services are provided digitally, which includes phone calls and video calls.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com