Revised – ARECA Transitions AgKnow

Oct 15, 2026, ARECA statement regarding the AgKnow brand,

“ARECA Public Statement Regarding AgKnow

ARECA, a producer organization, made the difficult decision earlier this year to end our AgKnow farm mental health support operations.  Although farmers and ranchers value and derived significant benefit from AgKnow, ARECA was unable to secure adequate and stable financing to continue the AgKnow services.  

ARECA continues to be open to transferring the AgKnow brand,  website and resource materials to a not-for-profit organization.  Ideally this would be an organization who is interested and capable of providing farm mental health support as part of the broader farm mental health support ecosystem. We are currently in early discussions with such an organization. Should this materialize, this would result in utilization of AgKnow resources under new ownership.

A key element of the future efforts of AgKnow will be helping farmers and ranchers connect to farm mental health providers such as farm informed counselling, support groups, workshops and webinars, etc. In the early days of AgKnow, service providers were scarce.  Services are now more plentiful and more widely available. Organizations involved in provision of services are gradually evolving into a synergistic network.

AgKnow was one of the early pioneers whose efforts in building relationships with others significantly contributed to the betterment of farm mental health support that we see today and envision for tomorrow.

Reinvigorating AgKnow will help ensure that the past investments of time, money and collaborations that built AgKnow will continue to provide benefits to Alberta’s producers into the future.

The strong support from ASBs and the passionate leadership of Linda Hunt are recognized and most appreciated.  AgKnow has been a rewarding and challenging journey for many.  This support and leadership have been key contributing elements.

We are confident that with the growth in farm mental health support over the past few years, that the stigma around mental health is dissipating and support for those in need is more readily available.  The mental well-being of farm and ranch people and families is critical to their success and to the agricultural sector as a whole.” Alan Hall, ARECA Executive Director, revised October 15, 2026

ARECA Public Statement Regarding AgKnow

Background:

AgKnow is the branded name for the Alberta Farm Mental Health Network that evolved out of resolutions passed by the ASBs starting in 2019. Its development began in response to Resolution E1-19 (2019), which called for agriculture-specific mental health services. Resolution E2-23 (2023) requested stable five-year funding for AgKnow. Resolution 9-25 (2025) asks the province to waive the matching funding requirement under SCAP for the AgKnow project.

In July 2025 the project hosted a “Beyond the Project” event to gather insight from stakeholders about the future direction and gauge support for moving AgKnow from a project into a long term program. While there was support for the work, there wasn’t consensus on how to move the project forward. In December 2025, a committee of stakeholders and funders convened to work on a plan, resulting in the following report, with the recommendation to not form a new not for profit.

June 29, 2026 AgKnow Committee final report

In February 2026 the ARECA board decided to shut down operations, and in September 2026 began negotiations to hand over the AgKnow brand to a new not for profit.

Reflections on AB Farm Mental Health – Former AgKnow Director, Linda Hunt