Mental overload of female farmers: “At some point, passion has limits”

A farmer from Bas-Saint-Laurent who juggles daily tasks on her dairy farm and her family obligations is sounding the alarm about the mental overload that she can sometimes face, just like most of her colleagues.

Every morning, Jessie Rioux and her partner meet at 5 a.m. with the 70 cows on their farm for the first milking of the day.

As soon as the milking is finished, the co-owner of Ferme Plein Soleil rushes home to carry out her domestic tasks, such as cleaning, but also take care of the farm’s paperwork and accounting or see to the needs of her two boys. 10 and 14 years old.

If ever we have to do an errand in the village during the day, she is also the one called for help, before she returns to lend a hand during the other two daily milkings or with the care of the animals.

“There is no hiding place: even if I have very good cooperation from my partner, the responsibilities of the family are based on [mes] shoulders,” admits the 38-year-old woman.

Like her, 90% of farmers say they live with a high or very high mental load, according to a Léger survey conducted on behalf of the Fédération des agricultrices du Québec and published Tuesday.

Difficult to delegate

Jessie Rioux was not destined to become a farmer, but rather to take over her aunt’s grocery store. Everything changes when she meets her partner and decides to become co-owner of the dairy farm left to her by her in-laws 14 years ago.

While it is often a passion, juggling all these tasks can quickly become overwhelming.

“Sometimes I get out of breath and then the physical aspect speaks a lot. When you are too tired, it shows,” says the farmer from Saint-Clément, who is careful to take breaks.

Even though she can count on a full-time employee, another temporary during the summer season, her spouse and the help of her father-in-law as well as her immediate family, Jessie Rioux knows that she cannot be replaced. In particular, she chose to continue working during her second pregnancy.

According to her, many farmers can quickly become isolated when faced with mental overload and the inability to abandon one of their tasks.

“In agriculture, you either work with living things or you work with perishable things, so you have no choice. Even if we wanted to give up something, it can’t be done.”

“Passion is what keeps us going, but at a given moment passion has limits and then there are [des agricultrices] who reach them, who abandon their dreams, and this is where the mental load is very extreme,” judges M^me Rioux.