Farm Communication Coaching Skills Training for Agricultural Service Providers

Commodities

Practices

• Education and Training: decision support system, extension, technical assistance
• Farm Business Management: risk management
• Sustainable Communities: leadership development

Project Focus -

Agricultural service providers (ASPs) throughout Maine and the Northeast: Extension educators, farm business/technical assistance consultants, and financial advisors, will participate in a Farm Communication Coaching Skills course from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. This project addresses a critical gap: while ASPs excel at technical expertise, they may lack interpersonal skills that position farmers as experts of their own experience. When ASPs develop interpersonal skills incorporating planning tools used in Farm Communication Coaching sessions, they better support farmers and address challenges rooted in communication breakdowns, decision-making paralysis, and lack of goal setting or time management.

In a recent poll of Northeast providers (Forstadt & Boisvert, 2026), 77% (n = 31) report experiencing barriers in their technical assistance work when farmers are stuck because of human factors; 82% (n = 33) want to strengthen their own skills; and 85% feel they "would benefit from training to navigate stuck points in client conversations".

Farmers benefit from skillful ASPs who listen well and follow the farmer's lead. Participants in Maine's Farm Communication Coaching program (41 farms; 17% enrolled more than once) reported 100% satisfaction, noting changes in communication and delegation patterns and appreciation for "getting us all around the table." Among coached farms, 89% learned more effective communication methods, 92% improved communication with farm and business partners, and 95% reported greater confidence handling future stress or conflict skills critical for navigating discussions that are often avoided, e.g. finances, succession, and business changes.

With skilled ASPs, interpersonal aspects of farming are addressed, succession plans move forward, enterprise changes are implemented, and decision-making clarity improves. Farm viability increases when factors affecting farmer wellbeing, safety, and sustainability (e.g.stress, indecision, delayed action) are reduced.

Solution and Approach - ASPs will complete the Farm Communication Coaching Skills course, offering 16-hours of professional development to build communication and coaching competencies through interactive skill-building, practical tools, case study analysis, peer learning, and review of a printed manual. The course draws on proven approaches from Maine's Farm Communication Coaching program.

Content includes: active listening, decision making, time management, and goal setting. ASPs will practice identifying interpersonal barriers to farm progress, use exercises to explore priorities and decisions, engage in role plays, and learn to approach technical assistance as guides rather than experts.

Each participant will implement at least one learned skill with farmers and engage in facilitated peer reflection, ensuring training translates directly into practice.

The three-year implementation develops the course (Year 1), delivers it in Maine (Year 2), and expands across the Northeast (Year 3). Participants will integrate these skills into advisory work, with some developing their own coaching programs or workshops, creating broad capacity to address interpersonal relationships essential to sustainable, viable farms.

By the end of the project, at least 85 agricultural service providers in the Northeast who participate in the Farm Communication Coaching Skills course will demonstrate measurable changes in how they work with farmers. Specifically, they will apply interpersonal and coaching skills: active listening, guided decision-making exercises, goal-setting support, and conflict navigation, during their consultations with farmers. Each participant will implement at least one new skill with two or more farmers (at least 240 farmers) during the training. Changes will be documented through self-report surveys, peer reflection
discussions, and examples of applied skills shared during course meetings and a 3-month follow up survey. At three months, participants will have implemented communication skills with at least 142 farmers. At least three Northeast agricultural service providers will offer a workshop or coaching program focused on Farm Communication Coaching or applicable skills.