More Change Coming
During the execution of their “Let’s Talk" awareness project, ACC Farmers Financial determined that research was required to better understand how farmers think and feel about the issue of Farm Business Management. A number of hypotheses had been generated from stakeholder consultation and discussion, and project partners felt it was important to test those assumptions.
ACC Farmers Financial commissioned AdFarm to investigate producer attitudes, perceptions and awareness relating to Farm Business Management. To compile both qualitative and quantitative results, research was conducted using both a telephone survey and a series of face-to-face interviews.
ACC Farmers Financial – William McClounie and Julie Harlow provided project direction, assistance with survey development and analysis of final results. AdFarm – Rob Hannam led a team in conducting the survey and interviews, compiling and analyzing the data, and developing related recommendations.
Some of the recommendations of the research include the following:
Understand Preferences and Establishing Trust
Farmers have clear preferences and attitudes about advisors. Above all, they must have a good personality fit; they must articulate their belief that agriculture is unique, the farm business is unique and the farmer is unique. It is also very important to be referred by another farmer.
Recommendations:
Share insight and findings with advisor network
Red flags
Language, terminology
First impression, personality fit
Write it Down
Farmers don’t write down their plans. They don’t have formal, written business plans, and they probably won’t unless it is required of them. But farmers generally do have plans and they are strategic thinkers. The ingredients are there, just not written down.
Recommendations:
Create quick templates that would expedite the ‘head to paper’ process
Consider an online tool (supplemented by a face-to-face or software version) that would generate a plan from a series of questions
Encourage banks or programs to require a simple written plan (consider simplified Environmental Farm Plan model?)
Create quick templates that would expedite the ‘head to paper’ process
Consider an online tool (supplemented by a face-to-face or software version) that would generate a plan from a series of questions
Encourage banks or programs to require a simple written plan (consider simplified Environmental Farm Plan model?)
More Change is Coming
The majority of producers are going to make some kind of change in their operation – expand, diversify, reduce or exit the business. They don’t characterize all of those changes as being related to succession. Producers are generally accepting of change – not necessarily always negative or uneasy, as we might assume.
You can review the complete Let’s Talk Farm Business Planning Producer Survey. Or, for more information on the Farm Business Management Awareness project, customer survey results and www.LetsTalkFarmBusiness.com please contact ACC Farmers’ Financial at 1-888-278-8807 or agcorp@accfinancial.ca.