Corporate

2 Handling Stress on the Farm Table of Contents How is this resource organized? What is Stress? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 How it impacts your health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 What types of stress symptoms do you experience? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 What are stressors? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 What are the common stressors among farmers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 What are your stressors? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7 How to cope with stress? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 How are you currently coping with stress? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 What are some different coping methods I can use to improve my coping strategy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11 How do I put this all into action? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-14 Farming can be both a rewarding but demanding occupation. Farmers are exposed to a great deal of physical health risks with long strenuous labour and poor working conditions inhibited by weather and time of day. Due to the nature of farming, farmers and their families are susceptible to high levels of stress, depression, anxiety, and suicide. The National Stress Survey found that "almost two- thirds of Canadian farmers are feeling stressed on their farm" (CASA, 2005). As a result of the high stress among Canadian farmers, the Agricultural Health and Safety Network has developed this resource to support farmers' understanding of stress, its impact and promote a variety of helpful coping methods to assist in stress reduction. "I got my swather stuck, a minute later my father phoned to tell me the unloading auger stopped working on the combine, and then shortly after that a bearing went on our other combine. This all happened midday, peak season of harvest, with rain in the near forecast. Everything went wrong all at once, talk about being stressed. " – Saskatchewan Farmer "We are farming a lot more land these days, and it can be pretty challenging organizing several workers on the farm- keeping everyone on track making sure they are safe and running the equipment properly trying to get a lot of work done. My wife is a big help to me on our farm, but I know that I have been pretty short with her lately. She is busy working off the farm, helping the kids keep up with school and activities and keeping on top of the bills that need to be paid. My sister phones every couple of days, reminds me that Dad shouldn't be running the equipment anymore as his memory is getting poor. I know my family is worried about my Dad just like I am. I haven't been sleeping well, and my stomach feels like it is always in a knot. " – Saskatchewan Farmer

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