Farm Coaching: Farm Legacy, Farmer Retirement, and Succession Planning

Farm Coaching

Are you thinking about retirement? Wait, farmers don’t retire…or do they? Whether you’re just getting started, or are nearing age to begin collecting social security, it’s a good idea to have an exit strategy.

Your farm businesses grows and changes after start-up as the business moves through a time or two of “re-strategizing.” You find ways to adapt and pivot as needed. And do you have an exit plan? There are many names for it: succession planning, estate planning, retirement planning. Whatever the name, knowing where you are headed is an important part of your overall business plan.

While you may never leave the farm, are you thinking about how to transition the tasks, roles, and responsibilities of the day to day? “Retirement” may or may not feel like it’s in the distant future. It’s never too early to start thinking about transition of your farm business, the land, and your legacy. Planning is a process that you’ll revisit over time. And farm coaching can help you with this planning.

Farm coaching helps with succession or long-term planning in many ways-getting you to the table to have the conversations and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to get started. Coaching supports the conversations you haven’t yet had, are struggling to have, or are not moving forward in. Or if you’re stuck, coaching helps you set goals and take steps toward progress. The coaches focus on the human aspects of farming – the people who farm.

Retiring? Stuck on (not) planning for succession? Consider these questions:

• what’s getting in the way of getting a succession plan together?
• how do I communicate with my family and farm team?
• what is an ideal work/life balance for me?
• how can I scale back?
• what will retirement look like?
• how do I make a succession plan?
• who do I talk to about retirement decisions?
• when can I find time to talk to my farm team about a plan?

Fall 2025 Offerings: Individual Farm Coaching or Group Cohorts

Individual Farm Coaching

You identify the issues and you meet with a team of two coaches at the frequency of your choice. In person or online meetings give you time to identify challenges and opportunities, develop a plan, and work together to make clear decisions. Coaching also explores:

• communicating with internal (management team, employees, or family members) and external (customers, other farms, service providers) supports
• family transitions and farm succession
• work/life balance
• team building and how to delegate

Farm coaching helps you build management and communication skills focused on transition, goal setting, decision making, and succession planning. In coaching sessions, you will have:

• Structured opportunities for reflection and assessment to identify growth edges and understanding your needs and challenges in succession planning
• Coaching sessions on the farm in person or remotely using Zoom
• Support for individualized, clear goal setting for learning and skill building
• Between 1-4 sessions that are free and scheduled at your convenience

Group Cohorts

Cohorts will meet monthly for six months, facilitated by members of the coaching team. Choose from an online or in-person group! The cohort-based groups design centers on goal-oriented sessions that incorporate tools from the Farm Communications Guide.

• The cohort-based model emphasizes peer to peer collaboration
• Online or in-person for six sessions
• Each session follows a structured planning process
• Breakout sessions with other group members
• Homework between sessions
• Learn communication tools and practice

Each participant in the cohort will complete a personalized binder:

• Shared resources
• Components of a succession plan
• Timeline with action steps

Farmers at any stage of business are invited to participate.

Want a quick consult? One-Time Coaching is Available

One-time coaching can help you organize your thoughts and think through the next steps with the farm, co-workers, sense of purpose, and family relationships. This consultation will help you talk through a conflict or decision point and if desired, you can request a referral to mediation or counseling.

Farmers at any stage of business are invited to participate.

Complete this form to request a call to learn more about individual, group, or one-time coaching:

Other Resources

Feeling Stressed?

• Call “911” if you are in crisis and need immediate assistance.

Other helpful warmlines and hotlines for help:

• FarmAid Hotline 1-800-327-6243 (1-800-FarmAid; M-F 9-5)
• Maine Intentional Warmline 1.866.771.9276 (WARM) (24/7 availability)
• National Suicide Prevention Hotline “988” or 800-273-8255
• StrengthenME  207-221-8198 (8am-8pm)

Your wellness matters! Visit Maine FRSAN’s Agricultural Resilience page to learn more about stress and wellness in agriculture.

Conflict Resolution Support Available for Farmers

If you would like help with a difficult conversation that affects the farm, mediation can help. This free service in Maine can help farms work through conversations and decisions with a lender, a neighbor, a business partner, a family member, and more. Visit the Maine Agricultural Mediation Program for more information.

More Ideas for farm, family, and business communication, goal setting, and decision making on the farm to start now with your farm team.

Small Bites are brief reads for ideas and new practices to try.

How Can I Start a Farm?

If you are a beginning farmer looking for help to start your farm or business planning support, start with this online new farmer self-assessment. Check out the Maine New Farmer program as you decide if farming is right for you, once you complete the self-assessment, a member of the coaching team, or staff from UMaine Extension in your county will contact you.

---

---

History of the Project

In 2016, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Farmer Resource Network (formerly the Beginning Farmer Resource Network) started a project focused on farmers and social sustainability. The project began with a survey to better understand the needs of beginning farmers (in their first 10 years) with respect to the social, emotional, and relational issues that arise. It was generously funded by Northeast Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education.

Through grants from Northeast Extension Risk Management Education in 2019, 2020, and 2023, this work directly supported farmers through the development of a farm coaching program.

Way back in the fall of 2016, we began to explore the specific interpersonal and relational needs of beginning farmers at different points of time in farming with a survey. We developed a DACUM, or “job description” of beginning farmers and to create a profile that included interpersonal skills and needs (New England Small Farm Institute, 2000). Providers were part of a cohort that developed written resource materials for use by other providers to help in their work with farmers.

A Toolkit was created for service providers to use during one-on-one consultations that include questions, prompts, and additional resources, as needed. The toolkit includes the following areas:

Beginning Farmer Learning Stages: Identifying the gaps in new farmer training models and learning about how interpersonal needs may change with development of the farm business or as family priorities change. For the purposes of this project, “interpersonal skills” included:

• Communication: Identifying the relationships and roles on the farm and tools to improve communication between family members, farm partners, employees, customers, and other decision makers.
• Decision-making: Utilizing existing tools to prioritize tasks and plan in advance
• Goal-setting: Developing tools for assisting farmers in prioritization of farm, business, and family goals.
• Time Management: Utilizing existing resources to assist farmers in optimizing farm roles and responsibilities.