The Hidden Weight of Working the Land
A new study out of the University of Guelph is shining a light on a problem that many women in Canadian agriculture have felt for years but rarely talked about: farming takes a unique toll on women's mental health — and the reasons run deeper than just the physical demands of the job.
Researchers found that women in farming face heightened vulnerability to mental-health struggles, driven by a combination of visible labour (the early mornings, the manual work, the unpredictable harvests) and invisible workloads that often go unacknowledged — the bookkeeping, the family care, the emotional labour of holding a farming household together through tough seasons.
The findings add an important dimension to growing conversations about mental health in Canada's agricultural communities, where isolation, financial pressure, and climate uncertainty already create a pressure-cooker environment.
One Farmer's Story
Jennifer Schooley knows the feeling well. She runs a lavender farm in Norfolk County, Ontario, and has made it part of her mission to speak openly about what it means to be a woman in agriculture.
For Schooley, the study's findings aren't surprising — they're validating. Women on farms frequently take on multiple roles simultaneously: farmer, bookkeeper, caregiver, and often the emotional backbone of the operation. Yet their contributions are frequently overlooked, both by the broader public and sometimes within their own households and communities.
"Feeling undervalued" was one of the key themes that emerged from the Guelph research, and it's one that resonates with women farmers across the country.
Why This Matters for Canadian Agriculture
Women make up a significant and growing share of Canada's agricultural workforce. According to Statistics Canada, women account for nearly 30 per cent of farm operators in the country, and that number is rising. Yet supports specifically tailored to women's mental health in rural and agricultural settings remain underdeveloped.
The University of Guelph study calls attention to the gap between the mental-health resources available in urban centres versus what's accessible to people in rural farming communities — a challenge that affects both men and women, but which the research suggests falls particularly hard on women.
Burnout, anxiety, and depression are not uncommon in farming, but for women, the compounded stress of managing both the farm and the domestic sphere — often without acknowledgement — can make those experiences more acute.
What Needs to Change
Experts and advocates are pointing to a few key shifts that could help. Greater recognition of women's contributions to farm operations — including in legal and financial structures like farm ownership and succession planning — is one piece. Better access to mental-health support in rural communities, including telehealth options, is another.
Organizations like the Canadian Mental Health Association have rural outreach programs, but awareness and uptake remain challenges in agricultural communities where asking for help can still carry stigma.
The Guelph study is an important step in making that conversation more visible. By putting data behind what many women farmers have experienced quietly for years, researchers hope to push policy-makers and community organizations to build more targeted supports.
For women like Jennifer Schooley, that visibility is long overdue — and worth cultivating.
Source: CBC News / University of Guelph research via CBC Health RSS feed.
