Building community: Celebrating Alberta’s agricultural societies

It might be 4-H Achievement Days and public speaking. A local fair or rodeo. A riding arena, community supper or farm safety event. It might be volunteering alongside your neighbours or taking your children to an event you attended when you were young.

Across Alberta, agricultural societies and the thousands of volunteers behind them play an important role in keeping rural communities connected.

For AFSC’s Carmen Pezderic, that role is both professional and personal.

“Agricultural societies have always been part of my life,” says Pezderic, who works with agricultural organizations across Alberta through AFSC’s sponsorship and community investment program. “I grew up on a farm, was involved in 4-H, beef and horses, and spent a lot of time at community events. They were places where you participated, volunteered and got to know people from different farms and generations.

“Some of the most important things agricultural societies create are difficult to measure. We can count attendance and volunteer hours, but it’s harder to measure belonging, relationships and what it means to know the people in your community.”

In Alberta, there are 292 agricultural societies, supported by more than 60,000 volunteers. Together, they support more than 900 community facilities and 4,000 events, programs and activities across the province each year.

What that looks like varies from community to community, from agricultural fairs and rodeos to markets, youth programs, recreation, education and community gatherings.

Taking care of the people behind agriculture

Agriculture presents unique mental health challenges, and many Canadian producers experience high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression driven by unpredictable weather, financial pressures, isolation, and trade uncertainties.

While community and connection can help build resilience, they cannot prevent every tragedy. People can, however, be better equipped to recognize when someone may be struggling, start a difficult conversation and help connect them with support.

That is part of the work happening through Empowering Minds: The First Identifiers Initiative, delivered through the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies.

The initiative brings mental health education into rural communities and gives people practical tools to recognize signs that someone may be struggling, start a conversation and help them find support.

AFSC supports the initiative, including providing the meal that gives people another opportunity to gather and connect.

“In agriculture, helping each other is already something we understand,” says Pezderic. “We help when a neighbour needs an extra set of hands or there is work that needs to get done. Learning how to check in with someone who may be struggling is another way we can look out for each other.”

Agricultural societies are also investing in the volunteers who keep their organizations and communities going. Through initiatives such as You Make THE Difference, volunteers and community leaders can build skills in leadership, volunteer recruitment and retention, fundraising and preventing burnout.

Why AFSC cares

AFSC team members live and work in communities across Alberta. Some are farmers and producers themselves, balancing their work at AFSC with their own farming operations. Others grew up on farms, have family who farm or remain closely connected to agriculture.

Supporting agricultural societies gives AFSC opportunities to listen to producers, build relationships and support organizations that understand the communities they serve.

“A strong agriculture industry needs strong people and communities around it,” says Pezderic. “When we invest in mental health, farm safety, volunteers, young people and opportunities for people to connect, we’re investing in the people behind agriculture.”