Learning the human resources side of management and leadership is particularly helpful if your farm business has employees or a multi-generational workforce, farm family coach Lydia Carpenter writes.
Tag Archives Farm productivity
Run the farm with its people in mind
Farm Family Coach: Developing skills in HR management is especially valuable on farms with employees or a multi-generational workforce
Improving agriculture’s economic and environmental sustainability
Policy fellows highlight need for more targeted risk management programs, land assessment and vegetable sector soil support
Improving the resilience of Canadian agriculture requires more flexible and targeted conservation and safety net programming, according to doctoral and distinguished fellows with the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute.
Poor-fitting PPE adds more farm safety hazards for women
Surveys show the available gear significantly hampers women at their work
Despite decades of calls for change, women on farms and in other workplaces are still made to struggle with ill-fitting and uncomfortable personal protective equipment (PPE).
Increase farm productivity by being intentional about time
Farm Family Coach: Even if we hate making hard plans, we should work with clarity about what we want and need
What if, instead of — ugh — “planning,” we set intentions for the given time we spend in our farm operations, then held ourselves accountable to create more meaningful ways of showing up?
Prepare your farm family for the storm before it happens
Farm Family Coach: Look for ways to strengthen resilience in peaceful times
The trust-building work done during calm days can help a farm team create a strong and united front, ensuring that when the inevitable challenges arise, we are ready to face them together.
Mastering communication is a work in perpetual progress
Farm Family Coach: The farming environment can be rich with opportunity for skill development
While it can get lost in the day-to-day, communication between farm family members can come with high stakes. Errors in family relations could be just as costly as running a sprayer boom into a power pole.
Consider new ideas on the farm with a learner mindset
Farm Family Coach: It’s still wise, though, to seek mentors’ wisdom rather than have to relive past mistakes
When people want some influence and agency to try something new, and are faced with “This is the way the grandparents always did it,” enthusiasm and creativity can be dampened.
Try these techniques to help manage stress symptoms
Fit to Farm: It can be as simple as connecting your awareness in the moment to the literal ground underfoot
Think of your nervous system as a complex biological electrical circuit — one that benefits from being grounded.
How to get started on the succession road
If you’ve resolved to start transitioning the farm, consider these insights
The skills that farmers require to successfully navigate the retirement and transition process are not necessarily the same skills that built the business.
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
