Q: With international markets doing what they will these days, we hear a lot about farm stress. Certainly I feel it, as do many of my neighbours. Most of us are not sure what to do about it. If I had a great financial year, most of my stress would be gone. Buy it has not gone that way for us. Can we do anything to help relieve the stress we feel in our families when the economies are down? We would like to make things better for ourselves and our families.
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A: Farm stress is more complicated than it might first appear. The simple answer is to increase the level of income in the farm economy and all will be well. A more solid financial base will certainly help relieve farm stress but it will not necessarily resolve it.
The ultimate cause of stress is the fear that the personal dream you are striving for is about to be destroyed. For many people on the farm, the dream has been the maintenance and revitalization of the family farm. It is the opportunity to raise children and grandchildren in a home filled with love and devotion where there is respect for neighbours and an appreciation for the delight and overwhelming power of nature at its best.
The dream of the family farm has been threatened for years by poor crops and fluctuating prices for livestock. It has been challenged by government policies insensitive to the needs of the farm. And the dream has been put on the back burner by banks and financial institutions driven more by the bottom line and profit margins than by quality of life in the family home.
Generations of people have somehow managed to survive these challenges.
But today’s farm is challenged by a different source. Studies in Europe have looked at the effects of modernization on the family farm.
More time is spent on the computer than on the tractor. To survive the modern world, farms are responding more to international markets than to the needs of their neighbours. And many farms are compromised when farmers take off farm work to pay the bills.
The beauty of the traditional farm is the interpersonal relationships. Concerted effort is needed to reaffirm the value of both time spent with each other at home and with neighbours and friends in the community.
It might mean bringing back the traditional Sunday supper, a couple of box socials and nightly time outs from the computer. They will do wonders to ensure that the family farm, and all that goes with it, survives the stress and challenges the modern world brings.
Jacklin Andrews is a family counsellor from Saskatchewan who has taught social work at two universities. Mail correspondence in care of Western Producer, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or e-mail jandrews@producer.com.
