Hay Are We Okay?

In this episode, Merle talks with Clara Coleman , founder of Real Farmer Care , about something most farmers struggle with: taking care of themselves.. Coleman experienced burnout herself on a well-established family farm, and realized that grit and long hours weren't enough to sustain her or the people around her. From there, she tried something simple but powerful. She began crowdsourcing donati...

In this episode, host Merle Massie connects with students at Queen Margaret's School on Vancouver Island, to hear how a group of small-town teens is quietly transforming their school culture.    Student leaders, Oceana Jarvis, Delphine Koyote and Angela Feng, join Merle, along with former head of school David Robertson, to share how they lead the school's lunch-hour Stigma-free Club meetings as a...

In this episode, host Merle Massie sits down with Kendall Whyte, the Australian founder of the Blue Tree Project . Kendall's brother Jayden pulled off a cheeky prank on the family's sheep farm: he and his friend painted a dead tree bright blue, then waited to see if their father noticed. Today, that blue tree has grown into a powerful symbol for mental health in rural and remote communities around...

In this episode, we explore a simple idea with surprisingly deep impact: Men's Sheds. Across rural Canada and around the world, men can slip into loneliness: after moving to a new community, after retirement, after losing a spouse, or after moving off the farm. Most don't ask for help—they quietly retreat, isolate, and slowly disappear. Men's Sheds offer a different path; one that starts with coff...

Whether it's bull riding, steer wrestling, or saddle broncs, rodeos rely on the pickup man: the person who keeps riders safe and helps them out of harm's way. In this episode, we hear about the fantastic  Yellow Feather - Pickup Man campaign for mental health in rodeo - and how you can be part of it. Content Warning: this episode discusses suicide. If you are struggling, please check the resources...

In this episode, host Merle Massie speaks with director Kyle McDonnell and producer Van Wickiam about Deep Rooted — a 33-minute documentary tackling the mental health crisis in Canadian agriculture. Filmed in Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Ontario, the film profiles four farmers who speak openly, many for the first time, about their struggles with mental health. The result is raw, moving, and deeply po...

In this heartfelt conversation, hear how one family forged serenity and care from the shards of personal pain.  When Diane Bergsma lost her son Dalles, her family chose to convert their woodlot into Three Oaks Cabin — a place of rest, healing, and restoration for farmers and first responders dealing with burnout, anxiety and depression. We hear firsthand from Dalles' best friend,  Lucas Tamminga ,...

When Sherry Garner unraveled, she didn't know where to turn for help. No one talked about mental illness when she was growing up on a dairy farm in rural Ontario. As she rebuilt her life and story, she drew on her love of music and theatre to heal, and found the resources she needed for the journey. In the process, Garner became the visionary behind Coffee Talk Theatre Productions and the one-woma...

Hay Are We Okay? isn't a self-help podcast — it's a show about what happens when rural communities tackle mental health together. No gurus, no quick fixes. Just real stories that prove one thing: no one should walk alone. And, we can be there for one another.  Host Merle Massie — farmer, author, historian, and Executive Director of The Do More Agriculture Foundation — brings practical wit, lived e...