AgKnow lays off all its staff due to funding shortfall but uses automation to allow clients to continue accessing services
A popular program that offered free mental health counselling to farmers has paused its services because of a lack of money, says its director.
Linda Hunt said without bridge financing, or more permanent financing, AgKnow had no choice but to lay off all its staff, including herself, at the end of October.
Money the organization hoped to receive from the provincial government’s agriculture ministry to continue the project seems to be caught in a bureaucratic loop, and the organization is unsure when or if it will arrive.
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“We have had really positive engagement at the ministry and staff level from the beginning of this project. I am not sure what is slowing things down. I am optimistic that we are going to get support from the province,” said Hunt.
Like other organizations, AgKnow has survived on project-based funding, but to be sustainable, it requires long-term operational funding to keep the program going and expand mental health support for farmers.
Offering four free counselling sessions to farmers and their families has been key to the group’s success. Almost 170 farmers accessed the free and confidential counselling sessions in the program’s first four months.
Using an online portal, farmers contact one of 19 counsellors, who specialize in agriculture for four free counselling sessions. Hunt said they are notified when sessions are confirmed, but no personal details are shared.
Knowing their existing money may run out before more arrived, AgKnow staff tried to automate the portal to allow existing counselling clients to continue accessing services.
“We’ve set it up to be as automated as possible, even though there is no staff at AgKnow. That’s how committed we are to try and get some services out to farmers.”
Hunt said both the provincial Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction support the program, and she hopes its early success will eventually generate long-term financing.
As well as mental health support for farmers, AgKnow tries to tackle mental health concerns through research projects such as rural farm family depopulation and farm family transition.
“We are also looking at pinch points that are unique to agriculture,” she said.
“We have research in the industry that shows there are long-term trauma and mental health implications from a depopulation event.”
