Farmers urged to be mindful of mental health as snowfall makes for stressful harvest season

Saskatchewan's Farm Stress Line is remindingfarmers to take care of their mental health as harvest continues even as parts of the province seesnow.

Although many farmers are having a successful harvest, others are struggling due to the weather.

"If it's something that's ongoing and it continues to be a situation where farmers are unable to get out and get their crops off, that certainly creates a lot of stress," said JohnMcFadyen, executive director of Mobile Crisis Services.

• 'It's pretty stressful': Snow threatens northwest Sask. harvest
• 'Like somebody flipped a switch': parts of Sask. see September snowfall

Mobile Crisis Services has been running the Farm Stress Line since 2012 and offers support services over the phone to farmers and their families.

McFadyen says they haven't seen an abundance of calls as a result of this year's snow, but those calls can start coming in at any moment especially asstress starts to build near the end of harvest.

"That may impact relationships with their spouses, relationships with their support workers on the farm or with their children," he said.

"Anytime you're under stress, that's sometimes when you have those conflicts."

He says the support line helps farmers work through mental health issues such as anxiety or depression by letting them vent, as well as helping them come up with ideas to fix what's causing those issues.

"Lots of people have their own support system," he said.

"But sometimes issues come up where they don't feel comfortable in talking to their own support system, and some people don't have a support system, and so that's what we're here for."

The help line is confidential unless the person poses a danger to themselves or others, according to McFadyen, in which case Mobile Crisis Services may act to ensure the person's safety.

Crop insurance

Many farmers rely on crop insurance if their crops are damaged, which can help relieve some of the pressures involved with farming.

Shawn Jaques, president and CEO of Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation, says SCIC insurance covers both quantity and quality of crops.

He says it's too early to predict the number of claims in Saskatchewan this year, but he emphasizes the importance of farmers filing their claims as soon as possible.

"If they think they're in a claim situation, call us and provide your declaration on what you've harvested so that we can begin that claim process," he said.

SCIC also provides coverage for damage caused by wildlife.

The deadline to file claims and register an insurance extension is Nov. 15.

The Farm Stress Line number is 1-800-667-4442.

With files from Emily Pasiuk and Cory Coleman