A University of Guelph study finds women in farming face heightened mental-health strain tied to workload, recognition and gendered expectations.
A University of Guelph study has found that women in farming are more vulnerable to mental-health struggles and stress, with researchers pointing to layered workloads, gendered expectations and a persistent sense of being undervalued in the agriculture sector.
The findings add to earlier work by University of Guelph researcher Andria Jones and her team on farmer mental health. Their research found women scored higher on measures of stress, depression, anxiety and burnout, and followup interviews with women farmers highlighted disproportionate responsibilities both on and off the farm.
Jones described the burden as a “triple shift”: farm labour, off-farm work and the often unseen management of household and family life. “Even with supportive partners, the management of the household often falls to them,” Jones told CBC News.
For Jennifer Schooley, a Norfolk County farmer whose family has owned an apple and lavender farm since 1906, the findings reflect experiences she has seen across generations. Schooley said she grew up watching her mother and grandmother work in the field and at home, and initially had little interest in farming because of the hard labour, low returns and lack of recognition.
She returned more directly to the family operation during the pandemic to help her aging parents and is now also president of the Norfolk Federation of Agriculture, where she has hosted conversations about life as a woman in farming. Schooley told CBC she has dealt with assumptions that she is not the farmer or misunderstandings about her role on the farm.
Those moments can compound the ordinary pressures of agriculture, she said, especially when women are also expected to carry much of the family and household work. “You’re still having all these roles and expectations on you and that can be a lot to juggle,” Schooley said.
Kristin Wheatcroft, director of Agriculture Wellness Ontario, said the organization regularly hears from women balancing farm operations, family responsibilities, off-farm jobs and the emotional labour of supporting others. Agriculture Wellness Ontario is a branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association that provides counselling, education and peer-based community supports.
The issue is gaining importance as more women enter or identify with farm leadership. Statistics Canada’s 2021 census found the number of female farm operators rose to 79,795 from 77,970 in 2016, the first growth of that kind since 1991. Jones said women make up about 30 per cent of Canada’s farming population, though she questioned whether that presence is fully reflected in leadership roles.
Researchers and farm advocates cited in the report said recognition is one step toward easing the pressure. For Schooley, that starts with more open conversations about how agriculture’s already difficult work is shaped by gender roles and assumptions.
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