Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program extends to employees

A program that focuses on mental health in the agriculture community is expanding its services.

The Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program (MFWP) will now include farm employees in its mental wellness and support.

Starting Jan. 1, MFWP is extending its service to provide six, one-on-one, no-cost, confidential counselling sessions annually by professional counsellors with backgrounds in agriculture to non-family farm employees.

MFWP chair Marcel Hacault said the move emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and valuing the well-being of all farm workers.

“Farm businesses traditionally lack dedicated health and wellness programs for employees, yet the stress of the job is real. We want to change that narrative,” Hacault said.

The adjustments came because of direct requests from the farming community, according to Hacault.

“We were approached by farmers to enhance the coverage of our program,” he said. “As we are a grassroots organization open to hearing from our stakeholders, we’ve embraced this opportunity to extend our support to all farm employees.”

MFWP vice chair Roberta Galbraith said the organization remains dedicated to its vision of mental wellness for Manitoba farm families, and to bridging the gap in mental health services for the agriculture industry.