Frontenac Federation of Agriculture sponsors mental health services for farmers

Jeff Green | May 11, 2022

A program that was started in neighbouring Lennox and Addington County (L&A) is now being offered to members of the Frontenac Federation of Agriculture.

In 2018, a preliminary meeting took place in L&A. The meeting was initiated by Deborah Vanberkel, a psychotherapist and counsellor based in Napanee who founded Cultivate Counselling Services in 2017. She is also an active partner on her family’s dairy farm. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about how to help the farming community deal with mental health issues.

Vanberkel called the meeting because of an experience she had months earlier, when she heard that a farmer in Western Ontario was thinking of ending their life, and no one knew where to direct them for help.

“I found out there were no services, no resources that were tailored to the farming community at all,” she said.

Resi Walt, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture member services representative for the region, attended the meeting.

“We put our heads together and talked about different ideas, and the Farmer Wellness program came out of that conversation,” said Walt, who is also a dairy farmer in Prince Edward County in addition to her role in the OFA.

The Farmer Wellness Program, pays for up to 4 free counselling sessions, provided by mental health practitioners with a direct connection to the farming community, which is a key element of the program, was initiated in February of 2019 in Lennox and Addington.

Since then, it has spread to 7 county-based OFA chapters in Eastern and Central Ontario, and was launched for Frontenac County OFA members, by the Frontenac Federation of Agriculture, earlier this year.

“Farmers deal with stress, depression, isolation, and many other issues, but farmers are not good at seeking all kinds of healthcare, and healthcare is also hard to access for people in rural areas. All of these factors made the Farmer Wellness program necessary,” she said.

The program is set up to be very flexible. Appointments can be made during off hours, virtually or in person, whatever fits into a busy farm schedule.

“This is a passion project for the counsellors as well,” she said, “they take it on because they know what farmers face on a day-to-day basis, even though everyone has their own way to deal with mental health issues. This program is long overdue.”

To access the program, FFA members are invited to contact  Deb Vanberkel directl, at (613) 985-7233

They can then make an appointment, and Deb will bill the federation directly. There is no paperwork involved for the farmer.

Funding for the Farmer Wellness Program has been secured by the FFA, and four sessions are available to all members.

“This program is well supported financially. If anything, it is under-subscribed,” said Resi Walt. “That’s why we need to get the word out about it. The stigma about mental health needs to be eliminated everywhere, and the farming community is no exception. “This program is well supported financially. If anything, it is under-subscribed,” said Resi Walt. “That’s why we need to get the word out about it. The stigma about mental health needs to be eliminated everywhere, and the farming community is no exception.