Unlike other businesses, farms are deeply personal, often hinged on the balance of financial decisions made by multiple generations. With many of these generations working together in day-to-day tasks, financial transparency can be the catalyst that maximizes the benefits of each generation’s perspective. Being open about finances isn’t just good practice — it’s essential for business survival and harmony in our family relationships.

So, why should we care about having these discussions with our family? While financial transparency may not mean opening up the farm books in their entirety, what matters is that each group of people has the information they need to make educated decisions. Operating a farm requires management to make major decisions such as buying land, expanding herds and purchasing equipment.

Why it matters: Everyone working within a farm business needs to be able to make informed decisions about their future within it.

Some individuals may need the information to decide whether the farm can sustain the lifestyle that they desire, and the need to supplement with off-farm income. Without a clear understanding of the financial position of the farm, it’s essentially impossible to make these costly decisions from a position of reality instead of guesswork. Financial transparency also cultivates an environment of trust among the family and diminishes suspicions about unfair compensations, hidden profits or unequal workloads. These suspicions can grow when lack of information is presented. It can also create opportunities to discuss shared expectations and reduce friction by eliminating assumptions.

Why do so many families struggle with financial discussion even in light of its importance?

Conflict avoidance and fear of judgement. Some individuals view finances as private information and believe that by discussing it with others it invites potential conflict. However, silence and avoidance ignore the future need for clarity within the business or family — and this can create uncertainty and even greater tension over time.

Some family members may also fear being judged. For example, some family members may avoid discussions around specific areas of the financial statements, such as large amounts of debt, because they are concerned they will be criticized or fear others may lose confidence in their leadership.

Financial literacy. Another major barrier can be unequal financial literacy, either perceived or in reality. It’s common for different family members to have different strengths around finances and numeracy or different ways of understanding the financials. While one individual may have a deep understanding of accounting, loans, debt servicing, income planning and taxes, others may not. Without taking the time to clarify terms, build knowledge and understanding, and define concepts practically so they can be integrated into business literacy, added transparency may seem overwhelming and futile.

What does financial transparency look like?

Having established the importance of these discussions and outlining some potential barriers, what does it actually mean to be financially transparent? Achieving the essentials of financial transparency does not require sharing every personal expense or removing clear boundaries in leadership.

Understanding financial structure and direction. Transparency involves exploring shared understanding of the financial structure and direction of the business in the areas that are important to each individual.

Clear accounting records. In order to accomplish this, we must first establish clear accounting records and systems that make the information readily available. These records can include financial statements, budgets, loan statements and previous tax filings. While having these documents available is a great first step, it may not be enough to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Regular financial meetings. Whether monthly or quarterly, these can provide structured time to review these documents and establish clear expectations for the future. Creating a scheduled time for discussions also allows for people to come with questions regarding information that is important for their role.

Role clarity. If it’s not clear what roles people are in, this may be another important area of financial transparency to explore. Taking the time to honestly evaluate who does what, who is carrying financial risk and how compensation is determined helps eliminate assumptions and feelings of inequity. In the spirit of establishing clear roles and responsibilities, it is also important to establish defined policies for major financial decisions.

When it comes to certain decisions such as, say, capital improvements, land deals or equipment purchases, it’s wise to take the time to agree on procedures that outline important stages of the decision. For example, who has authority to make these decisions? How many people need to be involved? Who decides that the financial investment is appropriate and how the decisions get funded? Establishing procedures removes ambiguity and creates clear lines of communication among the team.

Transition/succession plans. Finally, transparency also means clearly documented and communicated succession plans. Succession has the potential to be one of the most emotionally charged financial conversations within farm families. Transparency means having discussions around inheritance, buyouts, expectations for retiring or incoming generations and how to successfully transition management roles over time.

While these discussions may present unique challenges, not having these discussions can lead to significant relationship barriers and costly financial mishaps. Planning processes are ongoing and it is unreasonable to expect that everyone has all the answers. The key to a healthy business and flourishing relationships is financial transparency and increased understanding.

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Reflection, curiosity and continuing education are learned and intentional parts of how we run our farm in southwestern Manitoba. Reflective questions help us make decisions for what we might need to change or do differently in future: “What are the things we need to learn about and integrate to make our business and family dynamic and farm better?”

As entrepreneurs, and producers, we often focus heavily on production, marketing and finance. These are good things, and certainly play a role in some of the questions asked above. One area we have been exploring more in our farm and business — and I often encourage other entrepreneurs to invest more in via my facilitation work — is human resources training. Learning the people side of things is particularly helpful if you have employees or work multi-generationally. It can also help with spousal and sibling partnerships.

Here are some key areas that fall under HR management, where skills development can be as critical for your operation as your production and marketing plans:

Staff training and retention

We need people to work on our farms. We require the skills and abilities to provide training and upskilling opportunities for ourselves and also for staff and the next generation. There is a huge incentive to retain key talent and skilled labour, to ensure continuity and capture intergenerational knowledge. Staff training and retention efforts can have significant impact on farm and ranch culture too. Providing learning and training opportunities, seeking feedback or simply posting a sign that says “We care” (while acting accordingly) can make a huge difference. Compensation can also be an issue in staff retention, so company culture that improves profitability and reduces waste (in the form of time and material waste) and focuses on liveable wages can make a big difference.

Conflict resolution and mediation

If you are looking for skill building that can change your workplace for the better — and help you raise your kids and get along with your spouse — you can start here. Conflict is everywhere, and conflict is not bad. You can be in a good conflict. Years ago, when I started taking conflict resolution and mediation training, my ‘aha’ moment was when I realized conflict skills are real and unskilled or destructive conflict prevents people from more creative forms of conflict and problem-solving. A major issue in farm transitions, family business and workplaces is unspoken and unresolved conflict.

These skills can also help when having difficult conservations around implementing new policies and best practices or exploring complex or new governance and role clarity on the farm. Many institutions and organizations provide in-person and online learning. I can sit at my farm kitchen table in Manitoba and take a course from the Justice Institute of B.C. in Vancouver — or I have the option of an in-person course at Mediation Services in Winnipeg.

Cultural and organizational alignment

What is the culture of your farm? What are your values? Knowing your culture and discussing your values can help bring you into organizational and familial alignment. Values are not prescribed, but are discussed and embraced. You have individual values and organization values. Do you value honesty, co-operation, independence, security — or is it courage, accountability, compassion and creativity? There are many more and there is no wrong answer. What’s important is to ensure alignment between family values and business goals.

What happens when different family members or family units in a business value different things? Perhaps exploring core values is more central and training can give you the skills to do and lead that effectively. Having a clear set of core values can help with leadership integration and next-generation transition as well as a founder’s exit.

Policy and governance

One recommendation for young farmers, as you step into management and leadership on your own farms, is to seek out opportunities to sit on a volunteer board and learn there about governance and policy. So often on farms, rules are not written but held in stories, histories and memory. It can be really helpful to explore, set up and practice policies that clarify expectations around matters such as compensation, perks or workplace accountability, and to have a more professional standard in a family-run environment where people might make assumptions about what others are supposed to be doing. Having a space and some skill to explore policy and governance does not mean you need to take the fun out of farming, but it can add clarity around roles, responsibilities, performance, asset transfer and transition, among other things. You might also have policies around safety and equipment use, social media, sourcing and family member engagement.

Family and non-family dynamics

It is important to appreciate and navigate the complexity of relationships and family histories within family businesses. This can be a difficult and ongoing challenge that requires skill building and personal and team work. Appreciating the unique dynamics between family members and employees can be key to the sustainability and future success of the farm or ranch.

If you have non-family employees who play significant roles in the current and future success of your business, it is important to have objective criteria for fair treatment of non-family employees and family in the business throughout a transition. When leadership changes, it’s important to communicate clearly with employees and for members of the leadership team to have training to support the continuity of employee satisfaction as well as their own confidence in leading a team, whether it be family members or non-family employees.

Investing in leadership training can build additional trust among team members and also reduce destructive conflict cycles.

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So often on the farm, we try to do many things at the same time. Then at the end of the day, we wonder what we actually accomplished, or which projects we actually finished. A blog post entitled “The Myth of Multitasking” by the Resilience Institute notes multitasking can actually lower productivity, increase the number of errors and cause more communication breakdowns between team members. “When individuals are pulled in multiple directions, it becomes difficult to align on goals and keep clarity within a group.”

After several years of walking with farmers in their succession planning journeys, including with my own in-laws, I have noticed hearing the word “plan” can evoke fear for many. Carrying a “see how it goes” attitude can feel normal when there is so much uncertainty in farming. To hear the words “make a plan” can feel overwhelming and even impossible when there seem to be so many variables. Of course there are times when we do need to make a decision, but if we do this hastily we are not taking into account how that decision impacts our overall vision.

What if I told you there is a less stressful way to approach your days and growing seasons without using the dreadful “p” word? What if, instead, we set intentions for the time we spend in our operations — individually and together — and then hold ourselves accountable to creating more meaningful ways of showing up?

Being more intentional about how we spend our time — in projects, in relationships and especially when we combine the two together — can help us be more productive and satisfied in our operations.

In her book The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, Priya Parker writes about setting intentions when bringing people together: “To ascertain a gathering’s purpose, move from the what to the why… Take the reasons you think you are gathering — because it’s our Monday-morning meeting; because it’s a family tradition to be at the lake — and keep drilling below them. Ask why you’re doing it. Every time you get to another, deeper reason, ask why again. Keep asking why until you hit a belief or value.”

Discovering the “why” behind regular farm tasks that we do together, such as moving the cows to pasture, helps us be more intentional about how we want to run our operations and what values we want to weave into our overall vision. When others have insight into this vision, we are less likely to get into conflict because there is a shared understanding of the reasons certain decisions are made.

Whenever my husband and I help his parents vaccinate or move their cattle, we are often brought up to speed beforehand on what their plans are for certain cows or a particular group they would like to sort. One year, when my husband and my father-in-law were in conflict about my husband’s decision to step back from the farm, we jumped right into working together without discussing the intentions for the day. Within the hour there was yelling, and it was not just frustration about calves that were straying. At one point I heard my husband say to his father, “I have no idea what you want!”

By creating clarity about what we want and being able to ask for what we need from others when we set out our hopes for the day or season, we create more efficient operations built on shared values of trust.

Wood intentions

Once a year, my family drives up from the city to help us split wood for the winter. We burn a lot of wood, not only to keep our energy costs low but also because we believe it is a sustainable way to live. Sometimes we have a lot of people, including extended family from the Mennonite belt of southern Manitoba. The night before my family arrives, my husband and I sit down to set an intention together for the time when they are here. Without this conversation about our shared vision for the day, one of us will, without a doubt, get caught up in visiting without realizing the other is feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work. Of course, we too need social time, but if our goal is to split a certain pile of wood, we will be much more intentional about when the opportunities for visiting happen.

When my family arrives, we give everyone a chance to settle in and catch up over coffee before we announce our hopes for the day. Sharing our intentions with my sociable, urbanized family motivates them to do the work, knowing the impact they are making for us as self-sufficient rural folk.

Here are some simple ways to start being more intentional in your days and seasons:

Set out one goal for what you want to accomplish or create each day. Even if you end up doing a couple other small things in the day, having that goal in mind will help focus your energy and feel more productive when you follow through on that one task or project.

Share your hopes with others before you come together. List a few topics of discussion for the next meeting in the email to everyone, or explain how meaningful it would be to you to have supper together on Sunday without any mention of the new barn project. Be clear with yourself, and then with others, on what you desire for the time you spend together.

Bring your family members together to discuss a longer-term vision for the farm on which you can all have input. Choose a timeframe for your shared vision that seems realistic for your family, such as in two years when Dad will be turning 70, and then begin the dreaming. Stay open to seemingly wacky ideas, and ensure everyone gets a turn to speak (yes, the non-farming children need a voice too).

The process of creating a vision for the farm in which your family members all feel invested will help you set clearer intentions each day and for every growing season. You will spend your time with more purpose and clarity, knowing your daily goals contribute toward a lifetime legacy.

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Yet on our farm the other day, we had a seven-person work crew that averaged 20.7 years old, all with a smile and a spring in their step, efficiently vaccinating and processing hundreds of cows and calves. (Although I suspect the two 40-somethings were nudging the average age up and likely dragging the agility down.)

My husband and I have entered a golden era in farm parenthood. Our kids are well past the diaper stage, are young enough to be at home under our roof, yet at a prime age to be excellent (ahem, crucial) ranch help. The automatic home-grown cattle handling system we started building 15 years ago is paying off!

There was a time when we would tackle big ranch jobs, such as sorting and trailing pairs out, when our children were not around. Now I find myself carefully navigating a calendar of school and external commitments to ensure the children are on hand for tasks big and small.

Another weird phenomenon is that the number of handy, capable kids around our camp seems to be increasing. There now appears to be an entire network of young friends ready to lend a hand in the calf pen, the show ring or the pasture. I’ve had a pitchfork pulled out of my hands by an unrelated young whippersnapper many times, and I’m not sad about it.

Outside of my in-house social experiment, I regularly observe enthusiastic young people who fuel my optimism about the future of food and farming.

I hear it in our local 4-H members casually discussing the price of cattle and feed. I saw it when I judged an agricultural video contest for our school division and was impressed by every creative, thought-provoking entry. I experienced it in our school when I hosted a class tour at our ranch, and the students asked insightful questions about why and how we do certain practices. I observe it at youth cattle shows when articulate, passionate young cattle producers take command of a show ring or a microphone.

We can’t ever stop considering how to retain and maintain youth in agriculture, but we should also recognize and value the generation of committed kids that we are building. But I have questions…

How do we continue to incorporate kids in a meaningful way? How do we help kids develop valuable skills and exert their independence while balancing the fact that they are still children? How do we foster an appreciation for non-farm hobbies and adventures? How do we avoid burnout? How do we encourage youth from diverse backgrounds to participate in agriculture? Above all, how do we keep our kids safe?

It’s hard to know how the future will play out for the next generation, but I have a lot of optimism.

For now, I’ll continue to invest in that cattle-handling infrastructure we started building so many years ago: I’ll locate the missing spurs, procure more phone-charging cables, wash the manure off the “town” boots and clothes, fill the fridge full of food, and set another few places at the table.

I’ll hop in the passenger seat of the pickup truck while I watch our children intuitively forge a path and fill gaps around our ranch I didn’t know existed, better than I ever could myself.

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I decide to take a coach approach by putting the creation of a solution back on them. Although I love helping my daughter, who takes every opportunity to show off her independence, I try not to get involved when she and my husband are working out an issue. Of course, aligning with my husband to provide clear guidelines and boundaries for our children as a team has been the key to surviving parenthood together. But when the two of them have a disagreement about something small that doesn’t need to involve me, I try to stay out of it. It is almost too easy to jump in and save them, to stop the arguing by giving them an idea of how to move forward. Yet I know that this will not further their bond as father and daughter.

How does Mom end up in the middle of every argument?

Too often as a coach I see farm families where Mom seems to be involved with every disagreement that arises. Whether attempting to be neutral as a mediator, or making matters worse by giving family members the wrong information about each other, mothers often allow themselves to be in the middle of family members. This may be a long-standing pattern that starts when siblings are just kids or be a new dynamic that is created when an in-law joins the family. It can be common for Mom to feel like a safe space to vent, troubleshoot issues or just find out information about another family member. Some farm families I have coached consider their mother to be the “glue” that holds things together, the person who ensures everyone is informed about family events or takes every child’s wants into consideration when planning out the future of the farm.

Yet as folks discover in farm succession coaching, allowing each person to have a voice, to say what they need and to have the opportunity to address conflicts directly with other family members is a powerful process.

No one likes conflict. No one likes to watch others in conflict, especially those they love. I think this is especially challenging for Mom. As a mother myself, my heart aches when my children are fighting. But the more I try to get in between them, the fewer chances they have to learn the skills of listening to the other person’s needs or voicing their own.

As a bit of a conflict nerd, I believe conflict can help people become closer in relationships. By working through a disagreement, each person has the opportunity to learn about the other person and also feel more understood by them.

Here’s how your family can help Mom when she’s in the middle:

Flatten those triangles

When two family members are not able to have effective communication, they often turn to someone else to hear them out. Many times this is Mom. Once Mom hears both sides of the story, she may decide to “help” the situation by giving each family member insight into the other person’s wants or needs. And now you have a triangle, with Mom in one corner as the mediator and the other two parties talking more to her than they are to each other. This can only increase the chances of misunderstandings, since the messages are being filtered through Mom.

Mom, when someone is coming to you to talk about another family member, you need to encourage them to go directly to that person with their concerns. Flatten that triangle by encouraging those you love to talk to each other! For a more in-depth look at how triangles breed conflict, check out episode 31 of the Farm Family Harmony podcast, in which my colleague Crisol and Elaine discuss the Karpman Drama Triangle.

Set boundaries for how farm talk comes up at family gatherings

When the family is getting together for a meal or event, Mom often wants members to come without bringing all of the shop talk and field baggage with them. It can be exhausting to constantly think (or fight) about the farm, and doing so when the family is all together can have the biggest impact on Mom.

Everyone is responsible for setting boundaries to help out Mom, which essentially looks like guidelines for how the farm is talked about when the family is together. Use humour to combat the creeping in of the shop talk by having a code word (or a swear jar?) to hold everyone accountable to these guidelines. Remember, we are people who have identities and interests outside of the farm — yes, even Dad.

Generate effective communication in meetings

Whether it’s an operational meeting to clarify roles on the farm or an annual family meeting to keep non-farming children informed, effective communication through regular meetings can help keep Mom out of the middle.

As a coach I see farm families struggle to stick to a schedule for meetings, so give yourself grace when planning and set the dates based on the best availability for everyone. Sometimes coming together for an hour to address ongoing or recent issues is better than trying to make a strict schedule. If Mom is the organizer, that’s OK, but know she is not the only one responsible for keeping track of what needs to be discussed!

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The Appreciative Inquiry process has challenged our approach to problem-solving. How could focusing on the positive elements of our family business resolve conflicts? It sounds contradictory, doesn’t it?

As proponents such as David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom explain, Appreciative Inquiry is a flexible exercise for organizations seeking a positive mindset shift. It’s a nine- to 12-month exploratory journey, a process of rediscovery and realignment. Like machinery, farming family teams require alignment, organization, strength-building and planning spaces.

As Cooperrider puts it, ‘Appreciative’ is defined as “recognizing the best in people… affirming past and present strengths, successes, and potentials” while ‘Inquiry’ refers to “the act of exploration and discovery, asking questions.”

The process involves several individual conversations and family meetings that will discuss topics divided into the “four-D” cycles of conversations: Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny.

Discovery: Being curious to ask positive questions

These conversations are about “uncovering what gives life to your farming family.”

Sit down with each family/team member and ask curious, positive questions. Let them openly share their strengths and discuss the strengths they see in the entire family. Encourage them to share examples where the family team demonstrated these strengths. Prepare to be open, avoid judgment, listen attentively and understand your family team’s aspirations, dreams and goals.

This cycle offers an opportunity to reconnect, understand your family team’s strengths and, most importantly, listen to their goals. Often, family business goals are overlooked or dominated by a few members. However, setting goals collaboratively inspires the family team because goals are the compass for the farm.

As Mexican businessman Arnoldo De La Rocha says: “Those who don’t know where they are going have already arrived; don’t stress about it. On the other hand, those who know where they’re going have an advantage. There’s no favourable wind for those who haven’t set a course. We need to know where we are going. The world co-ordinates to clear the way for those who know their destination.”

Setting goals as farming families is the first step to moving forward. Start building a strong team by involving everyone in setting farm goals. What goals are hidden within your family team?

Dream: What are we called to?

This is one of the most inspiring processes in any organization; it’s an opportunity to exercise your imagination and envision an inspiring organization. Based on your family’s discovered strengths, you’ll formulate a vision for your farm in this stage. This process will span multiple meetings, where each member brings and reflects collectively on their ideas. At each meeting, you will agree on statements to shape the farm’s future vision. Your goal, as Cooperrider puts it, is to answer the question: “What is the world calling us to become?”

Design: What needs to change?

In this phase, you begin to make changes so that the dream/vision from the previous cycle gains traction in the organization. This cycle addresses what needs to change on the farm to achieve its vision.

For founders, it’s crucial during these conversations that you can stay open to considering making changes and be very clear about expressing your concerns and needs with the intention of finding solutions. Remember: Appreciative Inquiry is grounded in those positive and real moments when your family practiced its strengths.

Destiny: Daily decisions for change

This phase reminds the organization that a process such as Appreciative Inquiry requires a firm grip on family values and adopting and practicing new principles.

Appreciative Inquiry stretches our thinking and reactions to the world. It also invites us to embrace five principles that will generate momentum to move forward and get unstuck: co-creation, simultaneity (readiness to change), poetic, anticipatory and positive. It will challenge and transform your family farm as much as you are willing to align your thoughts, words and actions with these five principles:

• Co-creation: It reminds us that, as Chuck Page put it, “a single leaf working alone provides no shade.” A family farm is a collective project that should engage in dreaming, planning and envisioning together, in addition to handling daily chores.
• Simultaneity: It reminds us that change occurs in our daily small decisions. Respect grows as much as I commit to speaking respectfully to my partner, children and siblings. Visions should be crafted to be lived out daily.
• Poetic: Human organizations, according to Cooperrider, are “more like an open book… An organization’s story is constantly being co-authored. Past, present and future are endless sources of learning, inspiration and interpretation.” Every past, present and future member of your farm family writes and will leave a message in your legacy book. What would be the title of your family book?
• Anticipatory: “Our positive visions of the future guide our positive actions,” Cooperrider says. It’s about choosing the path we want to take every day. Do we approach life challenges with appreciation for the people and resources we must face?
• Positive: This is the most life-giving principle. It calls us to stay connected and appreciate the people we work with — “to be rich in relationships.” What actions, routines and practices in your family/team can sustain “hope, excitement, camaraderie, a sense of urgent purpose, and sheer joy in creating something meaningful together”?

We hope this inspires you to embark on a process such as Appreciative Inquiry, to co-create a better “farmily.” May you discover the richness in life while serving the farm and family.

The post Focus on your family strengths to move forward appeared first on Grainews.

Courtney Pullen’s book Intentional Wealth: How Families Build Legacies of Stewardship and Financial Health speaks to effective family systems.

Strong families that know their values can create a mission statement for their farm; they know their “why.” Their vision for the future is the “what.” Knowing why you are operating your farm, and what your goal is, help you create a solid foundation or, in Pullen’s words, an “anchor.”

How you create action comes from your system of making decisions or “family governance.”

How do you make decisions together as a family?

Some decisions as to how the family operates may come from a “family council” approach. A council to run a family is different than a governance or family business meeting model to run your farm operations and do strategic thinking. How farm business decisions are made comes from the structure and processes of the farm family business.

Here are some of Pullen’s tips for designing a system of governance:

• Start with what you have.
• Keep it appropriately simple.
• Focus on strengths.
• Foster leadership within the family.
• Emphasize ongoing communication through regular meetings.
• Establish a formal structure with a governance model that works for you.

The best time to start working on more structure and better decision-making for your farm team is now. For example: what is your policy for loans or gift to family members? Pullen says, “You might want a 48-hour cooling off period. Folks may need to consult the founders. The first-generation couple would have to consult with each other before giving an answer. If the amount is over $10,000, they would also consult their financial advisor. The second-generation members would follow the same process and consult with parents.”

I remember coaching a family that was quietly writing large cheques to an adult child in a large city because the child was not financially savvy. This lack of financial transparency was not healthy for the family or the farm business.

More questions to ask

What is the overall vision for family participation? Pullen uses an example where only family members have voting rights in decision-making. Spouses may get to sit in on the meetings for information. Other families use a consensus model. I believe every member of the family and their spouses or partners have skills and talents to offer to the growth and health of the farm business. Are you making assumptions as to who should be “left out” from the farm business meetings? You may be denying that a new approach or radical decision may be effective for your business goals. Ask each person to declare what level of involvement they would like to contribute to the decision-making process. Some folks, such as non-farm spouses, just want to be kept in the loop of information and don’t want to have a vote in the decision-making of the operation.

Who gets to be an owner? There are highly skilled women in agriculture who would like the answer to this question from their fathers, typically, who don’t see them as “being able” to manage and not fail! Fear of failure is a huge unspoken fear of the founding generation.

How do the new owners pay for their interest? And how do they exit? This is the policy giving clarity to debt servicing and business structure with shares which helps the next generation set up debt financing. I once had a young farmer go to a lender, where he was surprised to find $750,000 he could use to work toward paying his father out. The young farmer had no idea what power he had until he made the step to research lender options.

What are the criteria to work in the business? How are roles determined? You have read my articles on roles in the past, and the importance of having clear job descriptions. Ask me for Wittman’s job description list. As a founder your role is changing as you age in place on the farm, yet you are “stepping back without stepping away!”

How is compensation determined?

What is the process for hiring family members?

How do you foster leadership with personal development plans?

Who decides how performance is evaluated?

Above board

Dick Wittman, a renowned farm management consultant, talks often about the professionalization of the farm business. His farm uses a ‘board of directors’ model. Pullen cites an example where family members are voted into the board of directors by a large family. Underneath the board of directors there are a family foundation board and an investment company board, each having a mix of family and non-family advisors. Your farm’s CEO may listen and learn from the family and have ultimate decision-making while still being in close communication with the family office. Your board of advisors may help implement policy and be a great training ground for younger family members to learn more about business and leadership.

A model and system for making great decisions on the farm will likely be unique to your farm family culture and preferences, but the key is to have a structure and process that everyone buys into for making effective decisions.

I mentioned podcasts, and I think you would enjoy Farm4Profit’s interview with Kristjan Hiebert and Evan Shout (episode 414) and their own podcast, The Truth about Ag. Some farmers don’t appreciate large-growth farms, but there are nuggets on decision-making and development of employees that may flame some new ideas for you. Hiebert and Shout are both former professional accountants, so numbers and financial data are their game; they love to make data-based decisions for the farm. Even if you don’t like their large-scale approach, you might like the ideas of QR codes in machines to enhance learning and training of farm workers.

What’s one thing you can do this fall to have a better decision-making system on your farm?

The post Build a simple, effective farm framework for decision-making appeared first on Grainews.

I was able to keep the main floor of the house a pleasant temperature as long as I did all the cooking on the barbecue, but the upstairs, where we sleep, would get very warm and it was hard for the kids to sleep.

We were watering the garden and the fruit trees because it was so dry and so Gregory rigged up an air conditioning system for us. He took the hose running from the well into the house through a truck oil cooler that fit above the furnace filter, and used the furnace fan to blow cool air throughout the house. Then the hose going out of the house was used to water the garden and fruit trees. It worked very well!

During the beginning of August, we had a big cooldown. It was just in time for the yearly visit from the aunties! Lacey and Michelle are my best friends from the States. We went to school together and Michelle is Joseph’s godmother and Lacey is James’ godmother. Every year they come up to visit us. They arrived Aug. 4 and they were able to stay until the 10th.

While the aunties were here, we did lots of baking, cooking, picking berries and, of course, playing. They helped the boys put a new roof on their little wishing well and Michelle showed Joseph how to knit. Joseph insisted they try some of the carrots from his garden, so the boys took their little dump truck and harvested a few of the carrots that Joseph planted and weeded on his own.

Whenever the boys were in the house, they were after Auntie Lacey to read to them. They brought her book after book to read, but she didn’t mind.

On Aug. 6, we left the aunties to babysit, moved some of the cows to a new pasture, pulled two of our bulls out and brought them home. When we got home Joseph told us we could go do more work because they were having fun.

On the eighth, Dan Mitchell brought his spreader and excavator to clean our corrals. The boys were excited to help so, in the corral ahead of Dan, they helped pick up any strings, sticks or rocks so they would not go through the spreader. The main corrals had not been cleaned for three years, so it took a little time to get through it all and John’s field is grateful for the fertilizer.

On the 10th we had breakfast with Michelle and Lacey, then bid them goodbye and safe travels. Gregory then went to cut some hay at Landis while John was swathing our sainfoin. We were hoping to harvest the sainfoin for seed, but after the long dry hot spell we lost most of the seeds. Gregory decided instead to bale it for feed. It’s not the best feed, being that it’s a bit too dry, but it will be something. We are trying to finish up the last of the baling at Landis and very soon it will be time for the mad scramble to get ready for harvest.

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There’s a great article by Kells McPhillips on the Well+Good website, calling out these conversation stoppers as “thought-terminating clichés.” Here’s her list:

• “It is what it is.”
• “So it goes.”
• “It could be worse.”
• “Time heals all.”
• “Someone out there has it worse than you.”
• “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
• “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”
• “This too shall pass.”
• “It’s all about balance.”
• “Try to look on the bright side.”
• “The sun will come out tomorrow.”
• “The only way out is through.”

Words really matter. Our thoughts become words and words spur on action — or the lack of action. What we believe to be true is part of how we craft the culture of our farms.

The first such cliché in McPhillips’ list above, “It is what it is,” sounds so defeatist to me. As coaches we embrace the power of choice. You get to choose your response to the circumstances of your family and farm situation. Are you going to be proactive and make some decisions for a better outcome? Or are you just going to throw the shovel hard on the ground and believe “Nothing is ever going to change around here”?

“It could be worse” aligns with the misery you’ve witnessed of neighbours or others in the ag community whose farms have disappeared due to unreasonable estate land transfers, divorce, or siblings in litigation. These sad stories of transition gone poorly are not helpful, nor are they motivating folks to act and improve the communication and conflict resolution in their own farm business. Failure of others is not a strong motivator for you to change. You need to draw on internal factors of motivation to do hard things.

You can do hard things. You also don’t have to do them alone!

“The only way out is through.” I just said you can do hard things, but who agrees that transition through facilitated communication doesn’t necessarily need to be hard? We’ve bought into a mindset that conversations cause explosions, so the best thing to do is just avoid the hard conversations about income, compensation, fairness, and letting go of management. I disagree.

Conflict resolution can be a process of discovery, lifting a huge weight of tension. Facilitated conversations, in which folks are prepared before the meeting to express what they truly want, can be transformational. If you’ve put your energy into your farm business for the past 40 years, you might want to be kind to yourself and take time to process the shift of labour, management and ownership over the next several years.

READ MORE: Agriculture community invited to ‘talk it out’ about mental health

The list of 12 clichés above can damage mental health. If you are struggling with your mental health right now as you read this, I encourage you to reach out to your doctor for a checkup and find the local mental health worker in your area. If you are walking alongside a very depressed sad farmer, I encourage you to sign up for the Mental Health First Aid course.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” was the title of Dr. Nikki Gerrard’s research (2000) on stress in farm families. She found three keys to coping better were:

• Communication
• Celebration
• Connection to community

However, when you say “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” you are not offering support or solutions to those struggling with mental health. “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is another conversation-killing phrase.

How can you be more vigilant about what comes out of your mouth?

Think before you speak

Listen to understand more, not to formulate your next response. Two ears, one mouth.

Be curious. Come to the conversation with kindness and genuine curiosity about what is truly going on for the other person.

Ask better questions without a spirt of judgement. What do you need in this moment? What is frustrating you the most? How do you want me to walk alongside you?

Is now a good time to talk further, or do you need some time to process what we just discussed? By when do you want to come back to the table to create some solutions and timelines for action?

Be careful not to confuse estate planning with transition planning. “It’s in my will, you’ll get it all when I die!” This is classic procrastination of not dealing with the need for transfer of farm assets in the transition process while the next generation is looking for ways to gain equity and the founders are fearful of failure and losing wealth.

Ask for help. Seek out ag-informed advisors with strong facilitation skills so the whole family can learn helpful language for conflict resolution with positive behaviours to create solutions not angst.

Try supportive words to open more communication:

• Tell me more.
• That’s interesting, what is the story behind that thought?
• I’m curious about what you just said, how does that feel for you?
• What ways would you like to be encouraged? Time with family, words of affirmation, or action on the farm?
• Here’s what I am observing…
• What do you need in this moment?
• What’s the next step you would like to take?

Many times, folks just don’t know what to say to comfort others, or to recognize the pain or frustration they are seeing. The Do More Ag Foundation has a great new conversation starter game. My Do More Ag conversation starter box has arrived, and it is helpful to be reminded how our questions and thoughts can create great conversations.

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And a new study is highlighting that notion when it comes to mental in farm youth, revealing that children aren’t immune to stressors on the family farm

The study, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, explores how economic stressors affect the mental health of farmers and their adolescent children.

“Mental health with youth in agriculture is often overlooked. We have, rightfully so, put emphasis on the owner-operator who makes the decisions on the farm and has to sit with those decisions. But we haven’t looked at the impacts on the farm family,” Josie Rudolphi, an assistant professor and extension specialist at the University of Illinois and one of the study’s co-authors, explains.

“When families go through trauma, it’s usually not just one person who experiences trauma. It’s experienced by the family. So, when we think about tough economic situations, it’s being felt by everyone in the family. With farming, there are a lot of stressors that aren’t typical of most work arrangements and lines between home and work are often blurred.”

In the first two years of the five-year study, data has indicated a higher prevalence of symptoms for depression and anxiety in farm parents and youth compared to the general population. The study found that about 60 per cent of both adults and adolescents met the criteria for at least mild depression, while 55 per cent of adults and 45 per cent of adolescents met the criteria for generalized anxiety disorder.

“Those statistics are much higher than what we see in the general population. Even during COVID, we typically saw, among the general population, 28-35 per cent of people meeting the criteria for at least mild depression,” says Rudolphi. “So, we are seeing upwards of double those figures, which is very concerning.”

While the study looks at U.S. farmers and adolescents, Rudolphi notes the findings are consistent with other studies around the world. The Survey of Farmer Mental Health in Canada, undertaken between February and May 2021 and led by Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton at the University of Guelph, found that stress, anxiety, and depression were higher among farmers than the national average. The research also found that suicide ideation was twice as high among Canadian farmers compared to the general population.

Risk-taking behaviours

Of particular note in the new study’s findings is the correlation between how farm parents’ mental health and well-being affect that of their adolescent children.

“If a parent meets the criteria for depression, it’s almost guaranteed that the adolescent will as well,” Rudolphi explains. “We have to, of course, acknowledge that some of this is genetic. But what it really underscores is that youth are experiencing what their parents are experiencing; they are absorbing and internalizing their experiences.”

The study has also found a “very strong association” between mental health and risk-taking among farm youth, indicating that those who participated in more risk-taking behaviours were more likely to meet the criteria for at least mild symptoms of depression. That finding echoes a similar conclusion in the research “Health and Well-Being Among Youth People from Canadian Farms: Associations with a Culture of Risk-Taking,” which found risk behaviours to be high among farm adolescents and associated with various negative indicators of health and well-being.

“When we compare what we found to what the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has found in non-farm adolescents, we see a higher proportion of our sample participating in those risk-taking activities,” Rudolphi says.

One glimmer of promising news, she notes, is that today’s youth have a heightened awareness of and engagement in mental health conversations.

“There is still some stigma with mental health, in some populations especially, and I think rural and agricultural communities at one point were among the most stigmatizing. But we are starting to see that change,” she says. “Youth are really interested in talking about mental health. A lot of it has to do with generational changes. Millennials are more likely to talk about it than their parents, and Gen Z and beyond are growing up in environments with much more normalized conversations about mental health.”

Of course, capitalizing on that youth interest and engagement means providing adequate and accessible mental health resources and services. And, as the study’s findings underscore, there is a need for more mental health supports focusing on farm youth and farm families.

“Is it concerning that we see a high proportion of our sample meeting the criteria for depression? Yes. But what’s also concerning is the lack of adequate access to mental health care in rural communities,” Rudolphi says. “Because we know that these are treatable conditions; we have a spectrum of mental health and people are moving through it constantly. It’s very treatable and manageable, if you have the resources at your disposal.”

While there is no quick solution to address mental health and wellness among farm families, Rudolphi hopes the study brings more attention to the experiences of farm families, particularly youth. Though there are plenty of benefits to growing up on a farm, she notes, it’s also important to acknowledge and work to address the risks, which extend beyond physical well-being.

“If we’re going to encourage people to go into farming, if we’re going to encourage people to grow our food, then we need to make sure they’re taken care of from a physical and mental perspective,” she explains.

“These youth today are our next generation of farmers. If they aren’t safe and healthy, then we don’t have our future farmers and ranchers.”

Links to mental health resources, information and supports in your area are available online.

Kids FarmSafe Week is a new public awareness campaign hosted by the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association with the aim of promoting the safety and wellness of children and youth on Canadian farms. For its inaugural year, the campaign took place May 13-19, presented by BASF Canada Agricultural Solutions.

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