Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Farm Business Management: farm succession
Proposal abstract:
This project builds regional educational infrastructure to train agricultural service providers (university extension departments, USDA agents, county land & water staff, state departments of Agriculture and/or Natural Resources, agronomists, nonprofit staff, etc.) in the pilot ACRES curriculum, a conversational framework for facilitating difficult but necessary discussions about farm transitions, first trialed in 2026 with positive feedback from producers. This curriculum equips agricultural service providers (ASPs) to address personal, emotional, and identity-related barriers to farm transitions with the producers they serve, rather than focusing solely on traditional business aspects, and to provide producers with appropriate assistance, resources, or outside professional expertise towards completing a transition plan.
The outcome will be to bring farm transition into everyday agricultural services and conversations so that farmers start transition plans earlier, planning becomes less overwhelming and less avoided, farm families are more prepared and can move the farm forward with mutual understanding, and ultimately, the Upper Midwest has more farms successfully transitioned to a new generation, staying as working farms, and not sold to development or consolidation.
To achieve this, we will develop an evergreen training with supplemental tools, both for virtual and in-person ASP audiences. Additionally, we will develop a producer-facing version, which service providers can use in local, in-person sessions for producer groups. Feedback from both service providers and producers in this pilot program will be used to adapt the curriculum and produce the framework for a future toolkit that can be shared with ASPs and communities throughout the region and nation.
Project objectives from proposal:
| Project Product / Activity | Description | Target Participants | Anticipated Number | Expected Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial ACRES Curriculum & Toolkit | Comprehensive facilitator guides, case studies, discussion prompts, and practical tools for ASPs | ASPs: extension educators, county conservation staff, nonprofit staff, USDA service center personnel, nonprofits | 50 | ASPs gain foundational knowledge of farm transition planning and strategies to address emotional/identity barriers |
| Evergreen Webinar | Recorded webinar covering transition barriers, facilitation strategies, and practical resources | ASPs across WI, MN, IA | 100 in year 1 | ASP receive flexible, ongoing professional development; knowledge to apply in real-world farmer interactions |
| Conference / Regional Training Presentation | In-person ACRES curriculum adaptation for interactive learning and peer discussion | ASPs at conferences and regional trainings | 20 per session (3 sessions total) | Participants practice facilitation strategies; provide feedback for curriculum refinement |
| Producer-Facing Training Materials | Slide deck, discussion prompts, and supplemental resources for ASPs to use with farmers | Local farmers engaged via ASPs | 75 during grant period | ASPs apply training in real-world contexts; producers initiate farm transition discussions |
| Participant Feedback System | Surveys and evaluation tools for all ASP and producer participants | ASPs & producers | All participants from webinars, trainings, and workshops | Collected data informs iterative curriculum improvements and toolkit development |
| ACRES Toolkit & Promotional Framework | Framework for broader dissemination of curriculum, webinars, and materials regionally/nationally | ASPs and partner organizations | N/A (framework for wide adoption) | Provides foundation for scaling ACRES resources beyond initial project period; supports regional and national impact |
Notes:
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Activities are sequenced so each product builds on the previous outputs, ensuring logical linkage between training, practice, and feedback.
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Participant numbers reflect estimates based on prior FoxRAP outreach and pilot project engagement.
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Products are designed for scalability, allowing future growth of the ACRES program beyond the initial three-year timeline.