'Pick-up man': Organizations work to address mental health of Canadian farmers

Morgan Lehmann, left, stands next to her brother Josh Lehmann in an undated handout photo. Josh died by suicide in October 2023 at the age of 20. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Morgan Lehmann (Mandatory Credit)

Josh Lehmann was a cowboy from Rosthern, a tiny town near where the North and South Saskatchewan rivers meet and the open prairie rolls into the northern boreal forest.

He was a rodeo rider, a good friend, someone who would stop whatever they were doing to help.

Inside he struggled with his mental health, said his sister.

“He was just a cowboy through and through,” Morgan Lehmann said in an interview from her family’s ranch northeast of Saskatoon.

“We had talked about maybe getting him some help, but he definitely was more cautious and leery of reaching out.

“He didn’t want to be seen as anything less than tough.”

Josh took his own life in October 2023. He was 20.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada says farming and ranching are considered two of the most stressful occupations in the country. It’s a living that tests the hardiest of souls.

Cynthia Beck, with SaskAgMatters Mental Health Network, said producers’ livelihoods largely depend on what they can’t control: weather, markets, trade disputes and government policy decisions.

“When you feel like you have no control over what’s happening in your business, in your personal life, then that causes deteriorations in cognitive functioning,” Beck said.

Merle Massie of the Do More Agriculture Foundation said there’s been higher-than-anticipated numbers of farmers phoning for help, but added that may not be all bad news.

The increase could be due to more people feeling comfortable talking about their mental health, she said, adding there’s been a change in attitudes. It’s now OK to seek help instead of toughing it out.

“(Farmers have told me), ‘For too many years, we didn’t talk about this and not talking about it has definitely not solved the problem,’” Massie said.

Briana Hagen, CEO of the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing, said more men need to open up about discussing mental health, because women end up shouldering a heavier burden if they don’t.

Hagen co-authored a recent study from the University of Guelph that found women farmers are at higher risk for mental-health struggles.

The study, which surveyed 74 farmers in Ontario, says women reported having heavier workloads because they’re juggling farm work with another job or taking care of the family.

It also found it was on women to find mental-health supports for their families or partners.

“We need (men) to be able to talk about their feelings, but we also need them to realize that they should be active participants in learning about mental health as well,” Hagen said.

Help is a phone call away.

Various provinces have had stress lines for producers to call about issues they’re dealing with.

In February 2025, the Canadian Centre for Agriculture Wellbeing launched a national line. Most farmers can now call that line but some provinces continue to operate their own.

For Morgan Lehmann, the years since her brother’s death have been an emotional balancing act.

She chooses to remember the positives while not forgetting his struggles.

She and Josh’s friends have been running an annual fundraising roping event in his honour, with proceeds to the SaskAgMatters Mental Health Network.

This year’s event is set for next month. She said some wear yellow feathers in their hats to signify they’re a safe person to talk to about mental health.

Those who wear the feathers are referred to as a “pick-up man,” she said.

“Rodeo athletes aren’t seen as weak or less-than if they take the help of a pick-up man,” Lehmann said.

“(The idea is) to either see and take the hand of a pick-up man when you need it, or to be a pick-up man to the people around you.”

The national farmer crisis line is 1-866-327-6701 and Canada’s suicide crisis helpline can be reached by calling or texting 988.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2026.

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press