Pierre Begrand Counselling
Registered Professional Counsellor | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
There is a particular kind of pressure that comes with farming.
The work is meaningful. There is pride in it. There is history, family, responsibility, independence, and often a deep connection to the land.
But there can also be another side to farm life that does not always get talked about enough.
The weather doesn’t care about your plans.
Markets move.
Equipment breaks.
Bills keep coming.
Animals still need care.
The crop still has to come off.
Family and business can become intertwined.
And even when you are exhausted, the work does not necessarily stop.
🚜 For many farmers, the question is not whether they can keep going.
They usually can.
The better question may be:
How much are you carrying while you keep going?
🌱 Farming Is Personal to Me
This is not an industry I only know from reading about it.
I grew up on a farm near St. Louis, Saskatchewan, along the South Saskatchewan River.
Our family operation included both grain and livestock. At different points, we were farming roughly 8,000 acres and raising around 2,000 pigs.
I started helping on the farm when I was young.
From about age eight, farming was part of everyday life.
Then from approximately age 18 to 28, I was actively farming alongside my family.
And even though counselling eventually became my profession, I have never completely left farming behind. I still go back from time to time and help when I can.
So when someone sits across from me and talks about the pressure of farming, I understand more than just the words.
I know what it is like when a breakdown changes the entire day.
I know what it is like when weather determines whether weeks of work go according to plan.
I know what it is like when business decisions involve huge amounts of money.
And I understand how complicated things can become when family, work, money, identity, and responsibility all exist in the same place.
🌾 Farming is not simply a job.
For many people, it becomes part of who they are.
🧠 The Mental Load of Farming
A lot of agricultural stress is invisible.
From the outside, someone may simply see a farmer doing his or her job.
But internally, that person may be carrying dozens of decisions at once.
There can be concerns about:
weather
crop conditions
input costs
commodity prices
debt and cash flow
machinery
employees
livestock
succession planning
family conflict
long working hours
sleep
physical exhaustion
isolation
uncertainty about the future
Government agricultural resources themselves recognize that farming comes with distinct mental-health stressors and that weather, finances, markets, family pressures, fatigue, and burnout can all affect producers and their families. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
And one of the difficult parts is that farmers are often exceptionally good at pushing through.
That ability is valuable.
But the same strength that helps someone survive a difficult season can sometimes make it harder to notice when they have been running on empty for too long.
🔧 “I’ll Deal With It After Things Slow Down”
One pattern I often see in high-responsibility people is postponing their own needs.
After harvest.
After seeding.
After this problem is dealt with.
After the finances improve.
After winter.
After things calm down.
But farming has a way of continually creating the next thing.
There may never be a perfect time to deal with your stress.
That is why waiting until you are completely burned out is not always the best strategy.
You do not wait until a tractor is destroyed before doing maintenance.
You pay attention to the warning signs.
Humans are not that different.
🌿 Recovery is maintenance.
😴 When Farm Stress Starts Showing Up
Stress does not always look like someone saying:
“I’m stressed.”
Sometimes it looks like:
being more irritable than usual
snapping at family
difficulty sleeping
constantly thinking about work
feeling unable to shut your mind off
losing patience
avoiding conversations
withdrawing socially
feeling emotionally flat
struggling to make decisions
losing motivation
feeling permanently “on”
relying more heavily on distractions to switch off
feeling like everybody wants something from you
Sometimes the body notices the stress before the mind does.
🧠 Headaches.
Tension.
Poor sleep.
Fatigue.
A racing mind.
Feeling wired even when you are exhausted.
Those signals are worth paying attention to.
They are not necessarily signs that you are weak.
They may simply be information:
Something in your system needs attention.
👨👩👦 When You Farm With Family
Family farming has its own unique emotional complexity.
Your business partner may also be your father.
Your employee might be your brother.
The person challenging your decision may also be the person sitting beside you at Christmas.
That can make boundaries difficult.
It can also make disagreements feel much more personal.
You may find yourself trying to balance:
family loyalty
with
what is best for the farm.
There can be generational expectations.
Different ideas about money.
Different risk tolerances.
Questions about succession.
Old family roles that never completely disappeared.
And sometimes things that have never been properly discussed because everyone simply went back to work the next morning.
💭 Counselling can give you a neutral place to separate:
the business problem
from
the relationship problem.
Because they are not always the same thing.
🌾 The Farmer Who Everyone Depends On
There is another pattern I see frequently in people who carry a lot of responsibility.
Everybody comes to them.
Employees.
Family.
Spouses.
Children.
Business partners.
Suppliers.
Neighbours.
They become the person who handles things.
And over time, being reliable can quietly turn into feeling like:
“I have to carry everything.”
But there is a difference between being responsible and being responsible for everything.
That distinction matters.
One useful question is:
“What is actually mine to carry?”
What needs your attention?
What can wait?
What needs to be delegated?
What is another adult’s responsibility?
What is outside your control entirely?
Farming contains enough real responsibility already.
You do not need to add imagined responsibility on top of it.
🌦️ You Cannot Control the Weather — But You Can Work With Your Response
Farmers understand uncertainty better than most people.
There are always variables you cannot control.
That reality provides a useful psychological lesson.
A lot of stress comes from spending mental energy on things we cannot actually change.
The question becomes:
What can I influence today?
Maybe you cannot control the forecast.
You can control your preparation.
You cannot control commodity prices.
You can control the quality of the information you use to make decisions.
You cannot control another family member.
You can control how clearly you communicate.
You cannot eliminate every difficult emotion.
You can learn how to respond to those emotions differently.
🧭 The goal is not complete control.
It is learning where your control actually exists.
🔄 The Farm Stress Loop
Stress can also create repeating behavioural loops.
Something happens.
Problem → Stress → Overthinking → Irritability → More conflict → More stress
Or:
Pressure → Exhaustion → Avoidance → Problem grows → More pressure
Or:
Uncertainty → Anxiety → Work harder → No recovery → Burnout
The important thing about a loop is that you do not necessarily need to fix the entire situation immediately.
You need to recognize the loop earlier.
My general framework is:
Awareness → Pause → Regulation → Skill → Choice
The sooner you recognize what is happening, the more options you have.
That applies on the farm just as much as anywhere else.
🧠 What Counselling for Farmers Can Actually Look Like
Counselling does not need to mean sitting around endlessly talking about feelings.
For many of the farmers I work with, our conversations are highly practical.
We may work on:
🌾 stress management
💰 financial anxiety
👨👩👦 family conflict
💬 communication
😴 sleep and nervous-system regulation
🧠 overthinking
🔥 burnout
⚖️ boundaries
🤝 marriage or relationship stress
🎯 decision-making
🌱 identity outside of work
Sometimes the work is simply helping someone slow down enough to organize what is happening.
Instead of:
“Everything is a disaster.”
we begin separating:
What is the actual problem?
What can you control?
What needs action?
What needs acceptance?
What conversation needs to happen?
That alone can reduce a surprising amount of mental pressure.
💬 Farmers Often Don’t Need Someone to “Fix” Them
One thing I respect about the farmers I work with is that most of them are extremely capable.
They solve problems every day.
They are resourceful.
They adapt.
They carry responsibility that many people never see.
Usually, they are not coming to counselling because they are incapable of handling life.
Often, they have simply been handling too much for too long without enough space to process it.
Sometimes a useful conversation is not about fixing you.
It is about giving you enough space to hear yourself think.
🌿 That distinction matters.
📍 Rural Mental Health Support Does Not Have to Be Far Away
One challenge of living rurally has always been access.
The right resource may be hours away.
You may not want everyone in your community knowing where you are going.
And during busy seasons, leaving the farm for half a day may simply not feel realistic.
Fortunately, online counselling has changed that.
💻 A farmer can now step into a private room, close the door, open a laptop or phone, and meet with a counsellor without spending hours travelling.
At the same time, many of the farmers I currently work with choose to drive into Saskatoon for in-person counselling.
Both options work.
The important thing is having access to support in a way that fits your life.
🚜 You Don’t Have to Wait Until You’re at the End of Your Rope
Farm culture often values toughness.
And toughness has its place.
But toughness does not have to mean carrying everything alone.
Sometimes strength is recognizing:
“This is getting heavy.”
Sometimes it is having the conversation before things reach a breaking point.
Sometimes it is asking for another perspective.
And sometimes it is simply taking an hour where you do not have to be the person solving everybody else’s problems.
If you have been carrying more than you let on, you do not need to wait until everything falls apart.
One conversation can be a starting point. 🌱
🌾 Counselling for Farmers, Ranchers & Rural Adults in Saskatchewan
At Pierre Begrand Counselling, I provide individual counselling for adults dealing with concerns including:
farmer stress
agricultural burnout
anxiety and overthinking
work and financial stress
family farm conflict
relationship difficulties
emotional regulation
communication
boundaries
perfectionism
self-worth
grief and life transitions
feeling stuck or overwhelmed
My own background in agriculture means I understand many of the practical realities behind farm life rather than needing every part of the culture explained from the beginning.
I grew up on a Saskatchewan farm, actively farmed alongside my family for more than a decade, remain connected to the farm today, and currently work with a number of farmers in my counselling practice.
That does not mean every farmer has the same experience.
But it does mean I understand the world many producers are coming from.
📍 In-person counselling in Saskatoon
💻 Online counselling available across Canada
📅 Free 20-minute discovery call
You take care of the farm. It is okay to take care of yourself too. 🌾
🆘 A Note About Urgent Farm Mental Health Support
My practice provides scheduled counselling and is not an emergency or crisis service.
If you are a Saskatchewan farmer, producer, agricultural employee or family member who needs immediate mental-health support, the Saskatchewan Farm Stress Line currently provides confidential 24/7 support at 1-800-667-4442. Government of Saskatchewan
Disclaimer: This article is intended for general educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical, psychological, emergency, or crisis care.
