If you’re a farmer, you know that farming is big business. According to some recent statistics, farms across the country contributed to the Canadian economy in a major way: $87 billion in just one year to be exact.  

But here's a question for you: What province contributed the most to this total? If you said Alberta, you’d be right! Our farmers reported $22.2 billion -- that’s over 25% of that Canadian total. 

Many years ago, my dad was asked to be the coach for a youth baseball team in our town. He had a ton of things already on his plate, but as is so often the case, if there weren’t any volunteer coaches, there would be no youth sports for the kids in town. 

So my dad, and other farmers in town agreed to be coaches. Sure, my dad knew how to play baseball, but to coach a bunch of 10-year olds? You could say that a little bit out of his comfort zone! I remember looking at my brothers at the time, and I bet we were all thinking, “This is going to be interesting…” 

DID YOU KNOW THAT REPETITIVE FARM TASKS CAN BE A STRESS RELIEVER?

When you’re feeling stressed, it may be a good time to pull out your Hotsy and spray down your equipment. We’ve heard from some farmers that cleaning your machinery with a pressure washer is a huge stress reliever on the farm. Additionally, there is evidence to support that mundane tasks in general, can be a great stress reliever.

It’s no secret that working in the agriculture industry is accompanied by managing a load of stresses on a daily basis.

So how do you manage that stress?

We asked a few farmers how they manage their stress, and one of the most common tips they gave us was to focus on what you can control.