Progress report for FNC24-1443
Project Information
I have operated a pasture based farm selling regeneratively raised meat and eggs direct to consumer for the past 8 years. I spent 13 years working in the agriculture lending industry as a loan officer and commercial real estate appraiser. My own farm operation started with raising pastured broilers and selling at a local farmers market. The business has now expanded to include a farm store, regional shipping, and multiple local farm market partnerships. The farm provides the majority of our family income. My husband and I own 45 acres and rent additional acreage for our cattle operation. I own the farm business and direct the business decisions and marketing for the farm. I have studied and implemented digital marketing techniques since 2017, and in 2021 began incorporating mindset coaching techniques. I saw immediate benefits in the growth of our farm business, decreased stress, increased income, and in the quality of my relationships and overall satisfaction with farming. After experiencing the benefits of mindset management in my own farm and life, I completed a 6 month course and became certified to coach and teach mindset management to other farmers through Charlotte Smith's "Farmers Coaching Farmers" program. In the time we've been farming, I have watched numerous direct to consumer farms go out of business, marriages ending in divorce, and farm families struggle to make a living year after year. Charlotte Smith of 3 Cow Marketing states that 98% of direct to consumer farms go out of business within 5 years. While there are an abundance of programs helping beginning farmers access land, learn how to raise crops and livestock, gather social media followers and sell their products, teaching farmers the techniques to handle the stress, feel confident pricing their products to make a profit, and maintain quality of life and family relationships is seriously lacking. Mindset management is the missing link to building successful, profitable farms that are able to take care of the land well and build a fulfilling life with meaningful relationships. I am applying for this grant as an individual farmer, but will be bringing in other farmers who have also completed the Farmers Coaching Farmers course as consultants and contractors.
The problem this project will address is the mental health and quality of life crisis happening in the agriculture industry, especially among small, beginning and limited resource farmers. While there are plenty of programs teaching farmers how to farm and run a business, very few exist to support farmers through the mental pressures of operating a successful farm long term. To operate a truly sustainable farm, the operation needs to be financially sustainable and producing a living wage for the family, which then allows the farmer to care of the land and resources on the farm and provides an adequate quality of life for the farmer and the farm family. Overall, this is rarely happening in the small farm world. Farmers are overworked, underpaid, families relationships are strained, and the end result is food insecurity when we can't keep farmers on the land long term. The solution to this problem is teaching farmers to rewire their mindset in order to calm down their lives, stop over working, charge a fair and profitable price for their products, set boundaries, create meaningful relationships, and build a truly sustainable farm that is able to serve our communities long term.
The project will be a pilot program for a mindset coaching program specific for farmers to demonstrate the effectiveness of coaching. Science has proven that our thoughts create our emotions and our emotions drive all action, or inaction, which then creates the results we have in our lives. Circumstances are neutral and it's only how we react to situations that create everything we have in our lives. Mindset coaching allows participants to become aware of their own thought patterns and begin to actively choose thoughts that create the results they want in life and business. This project will offer mindset coaching to a small pilot program of farmers. The coaching will support them throughout most of a growing season from around April to the end of November. Farmers will meet with a coach monthly for a 45 minute session over Zoom (or similar video conferencing system). In that conversation, farmers will be prompted to bring one struggle to address in the coaching session. Farmers will be led through a series of questions to help them uncover the underlying thoughts and beliefs that are holding them back, and helped to create a new thought that will better serve them moving forward. Participants will also be supported between coaching sessions with workbooks/journal prompts reinforcing growth mindset concepts. Working through this process with a coach and group of supportive peers allows participants to become more aware of their thoughts and the results they are creating even outside of coaching sessions. Throughout the season, farmers will fill out feedback and survey forms to track progress in their finances, quality of life, overall satisfaction with farming, and share any other "wins" they're experiencing as a result of mindset coaching. Farmers will also be surveyed at the end of the season on if and how mindset coaching contributed to their ability to care for their land and resources in a more sustainable way. The results will be compiled and shared via social media, podcast appearance, blog posts, in person meetings with small groups of local farmers, and at a regional farm conference in order to spread awareness of the benefits of mindset coaching for farmers. The results of this project will be used to customize future programming with the goal of incorporating mindset coaching techniques into existing beginning farmer programs and expanding to offer coaching to more farm families.
The objectives of this project are:
- Create awareness about mindset coaching and it's benefits for farmers and farm families.
- Increase quality of life for farmers and their families by allowing them to increase their income and work more sustainable hours
- Increase the long term success rate of small farms by providing the support needed to build a truly sustainable farm that provides the farm family a living wage, allows them to sustainably care for their land and resources, and to maintain quality family relationships
- Provide a safe space for farmers to talk about stress and struggles as a way to address some of the mental health issues in the agriculture industry
- Begin changing the culture of the agriculture industry so farmers can see they are worthy of making a fair living wage without working unsustainable hours
Research
My original plan was to jump directly into scheduling 1:1 coaching sessions, but I decided to spend 2024 fully developing the program and supporting workbooks, website, etc. before offering coaching slots. I decided to begin offering coaching sessions in Winter when farmers are typically in their slower season. So far in the project I have designed a website (has not gone live quite yet) along with worksheets, workbooks, and survey/feedback sheets along with setting up necessary technology like Zoom and Calendly to schedule and meet for coaching sessions. It's also given me an opportunity to have conversations with multiple farmers about the grant project, about mindset coaching and how it can positively impact their lives and operations, and to gather interest in joining this pilot program. I realized pretty quickly that this requires more time, preparation and education on the front end to make the coaching most effective and help farmers understand how mindset coaching can work for them. In conversations with farmers interested in participating I was able to gather a few common limiting beliefs, so I've tailored materials and resources in an effort to focus on those specific topics. I also realized that sometimes farmers don't realize they have these limiting beliefs holding them back until they're asked to answer specific questions about it. The new timeline I've set for the project is to spend December finalizing behind the scenes support documents and website, begin posting on social media channels more often about the coaching program, and begin onboarding and coaching farmers in early 2025. I plan to coach 10 farmer for 45 to 1 hour in a 6 week session.
February 2026 update - The new website is live (homegrowndreamco.com) and we ended up offering what I've called a self learning center along with the offer to attend a free zoom session to learn more about coaching and if they'd like to participate. I've found that sometimes farmers aren't quite ready to jump headfirst into coaching and want to learn a little more about the concepts before coaching. Throughout this process I have again experienced that building something like this takes time, especially when already managing a farm business and family of my own. I leaned into my partnership with Steph at Being Me Better to do much of the 1:1 coaching and she is also helping with outreach on social media. This reinforced what we already know that we aren't meant to do things alone! We ended up testing out having farmers do 2-3 6 week sessions of coaching as we found that for some farmers new to coaching a 6-week session wasn't enough and they needed more consistent support to reinforce concepts and work through challenges. Moving forward we will be finishing up the last of our farmer coaching sessions over the Summer then working together to gather reporting data. We have data from before during and right at the end of coaching sessions, but we want to follow up at the end of this season to see how the coaching process has impacted them more long term.
While I don't have any results or data yet, I have found that just starting the conversation about mindset coaching and how it can impact farmers has opened up so many great conversations. I've chatted with farmers in person and via social media about the topic and it has been so encouraging to hear their excitement about support for farmers from other farmers who understand. I've also met resistance from farmers thinking mindset coaching is silly and would never work for them. Obviously not every person will be interested in a program like this, but I think the more education I can provide about mindset coaching topics in ways they can easily interact without having to actually sign up for a coaching appointment, like social media posts, blog posts, etc. will help explain the process and how it can help anyone. I also hope to share these resources so even if farmers aren't comfortable signing up for coaching sessions, they can still apply the concepts on their own as much as possible. So far I've directly interacted with at least 6 farmers about coaching and mindset topics.
February 2026 updates - So far, we have had conversations with at least 27 farmers about mindset coaching and likely reached many others via social media and website. We have had 6 farmers participate in coaching sessions and are in conversation with a few more who are considering joining. All have reported enjoying the process and finding benefits from coaching. 1 of the participants ended up finding us because of word of mouth from another participating farmer sharing how it has benefitted them. We have been tracking results via a "wheel of life" exercise where participants give a number score to their satisfaction with each area of life, then it's tracked over time along with asking farmers to share testimonials about how coaching as changed their life and business. During coaching sessions notes are also taken about where progress is seen, even if it doesn't seem like wheel of life numbers are moving drastically. Since Steph has been managing most of the 1:1 coaching so far, it allows me to then check in outside of those sessions to talk about their experience and how coaching is impacting them. One of my concerns with offering free coaching is that it would not be valued the same as if farmers had invested their own funds into this experience, but so far we have only had 1 farmer not follow through with attending scheduled coaching sessions. Farmers who are invited but do not end up participating have mainly cited time concerns as their reason for not wanting to participate at this time.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation summary:
Since being awarded the grant, I have been using my farms social media page, a new coaching social media page, my email list, and speaking with farmers in my community about the grant and mindset coaching. I've estimated above how many farmers who have reached out with questions through social media and in person about mindset coaching. Not all workbooks have been fully completed, more are still in draft form, but I attached the first 2 finished documents as an example. I realized early on that I needed to have more of a long range plan for sharing mindset coaching information and resources so I spent time this Summer talking to farmers, interacting on social media, and building a curriculum and plan based around the most common struggles. While we can coach on anything, I'm finding that starting by addressing limiting beliefs brings up so many mindset struggles holding farmers back. Once my coaching website is published I have a series of blog posts drafted to share on a specific coaching website I've created, plus will start engaging more on a separate instagram page specifically for this coaching project. My goal is to create resources that can be access by anyone, whether we're actively coaching or just being introduced to mindset work. I've also spoken with a farm marketing coach about potentially adding mindset coaching within her marketing course framework.
February 2026 update - I have continued to use a dedicated Instagram page (homegrowndreamco) and website (homegrowndreamco.com) and mainly speaking with farmers in my online and in person community about mindset coaching and the resources I've created. I have leaned into working closely with Steph from Being Me Better and she is helping with outreach via social media and email too. I am finding that I think having written self-guided resources is also important for those new to coaching concepts and feeling uneasy about jumping right into 1:1 coaching. We plan to continue sharing on social media, Instagram seems to be a great place to reach other farmers right now. I attended an event for women in agriculture in 2025 as part of a panel discussion and I was able to speak a bit about mindset coaching, there were approximately 45 participants in attendance. I was able to have deeper conversations about the work with those at my table, which was approximately 5 of the participants. This included 1 farmer who ended up participating in coaching. There were also at least 4 different agricultural service providers in attendance including extension, Farm Credit employees, and women who operate other farmer support networks in their local community. Steph is based out of Australia so we plan to continue sharing information and results virtually, but I will also be looking for opportunities to share this information at a similar conference. When we have gathered our results we also will start to share those via website, social media, and Steph and I plan to discuss which podcast(s) we feel may be a good fit for sharing these results too.
Learning Outcomes
The biggest thing I've learned so far is not to rush projects like this. I had originally planned to go straight into booking coaching calls so I could potentially expand the program by partnering with other organizations in 2025, but I realized I can be most effective and maximize outreach by slowing down to create a framework and resources before jumping straight into scheduling coaching sessions. I have been informally coaching one farmer friend, who when asked has reported being helped by our conversations.
By first identifying the most common farmer struggles and creating educational resources around that, I feel I can reach and help more farmers in a more impactful way. This project has impacted my own operation because as a farmer, I'm also drawing inspiration about what other farmers need from my own daily problem solving. I think the advantage of implementing a project like this is that I learn from teaching others. It also feels so good to be connecting with other farmers instead of living in my own bubble. So far I'm not experiencing any disadvantages. Based on where I am currently with the project, I would tell others there is so much need around helping farmers create work life balance and sustainable lifestyles while farming.
February 2026 update - reiterating that we've learned these kinds of projects can take time! Especially when already managing a farm operation and family in addition to the new project. I learned through this process to lean into working with others to share the workload. I have learned through the conversations I have with farmers around mindset issues just how much this is needed. I'm amazed at how many farmers are willing to open up and talk about the hard things when they know it's safe to do so. I have also learned that in order to do this work we need to have the capacity to hold space for others and their emotions - I realized through this process that in this stage of life with small children, homeschooling, and caring for customers of my own farm business that I was not going to be able to take on as much of the 1:1 coaching as I originally anticipated - which is why working with another coach has been so important.
Project Outcomes
I have been informally coaching one farmer in Ohio who reports an increase in sales and excitement for future growth. She has taken steps to expand production, has gained clarity on her direction and goals, and it's been incredible to see how much her farm and life is thriving.
February 2026 update - So far we have had 4 farmers complete at least 2 6-week rounds of mindset coaching and currently have 2 more in their first 6-week session. All participants found that coaching was beneficial and worth their time and energy and opted to come back for at least 1 more 6-week session. A produce farmer in Ohio reported “Finding a non-judgmental and unbiased listener in you was a relief. Your acceptance and understanding allowed me to embrace my struggles as opportunities for growth. Shifting my focus from constant worry about others to self-care has been transformative. Thank you for showing me that it’s perfectly fine to prioritize my own well-being.” This shift has allowed her to show up better able to lead her farm, team of employees, and as a leader in a local farmers market. A livestock farmer in Ohio said he appreciated coaching because it helped him stay accountable to himself and how spending an hour coaching at the beginning of each week helped him prioritize tasks and make realistic plans for what he can get done in the week. It's resulted in him feeling like he can better care for himself, his family, and his livestock because he was able to be more realistic with what he can accomplish and not beat himself up for feeling like he should have done more. Another livestock farmer in Ohio said coaching helped her develop a clear plan for her business moving forward and helped prioritize decisions and mindsets that were holding her back from reaching financial goals. A produce farmer in Ohio reported that this coaching process wasn't quite what he expected, but was exactly what he needed to work on some mindset issues before diving into a business expansion project. One of the greatest successes of this project has been farmer participants telling their farmer friends about this work and how transformative it has been for them. Each participant has recommended multiple of their friends to work with us, and not because we asked them to. Not all who were recommended have felt it was the right fit and followed through, but it's been incredible to see how these conversations about mental health and mindset coaching in agriculture have multiplied. We're still looking at ways to analyze wheel of life score changes, but a few notable stats were 3 farmers had increases of 2 points up to 5 points in their relationship with finances category. We had one farmer report a 4 point increase in their quality of life category, significant jumps of up to 6 points in the physical environment category.