A sustainable agricultural industry needs to start addressing mental health of farmers, says researcher
Christi Friesen remembers her husband saying he knew that the cloud of depression over her was finally lifting when he saw her smile at the end of the gruelling 2016 harvest season.
![A sustainable agricultural industry needs to start addressing mental health of farmers, says researcher](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7055131.1702304279!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/year-farmers-mental-health-20231209.jpg)
![Storm clouds build over a farmer's canola field near Cremona, Alta. on Friday, July 29, 2022. Most farmer families across Canada are familiar with the stresses that agriculture brings compounded by the vagaries of nature, isolation, disease affecting crops and animals, wars and financial pressure, but find themselves silenced by the stigma surrounding mental illness. A stormy sky with grey clouds above a field of canola.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7055131.1702304279!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/year-farmers-mental-health-20231209.jpg)
Christi Friesen remembers her husband saying he knew that the cloud of depression over her was finally lifting when he saw her smile at the end of the gruelling 2016 harvest season.