Getting more out of farmer meetings: a practical guide for advisors

Farmer meetings, discussion groups and workshops are common and useful tools used by farm advisory services and agricultural extension organisations. Throughout the UK and Ireland, various organisations provide and co-ordinate group meetings for farmers, such as Innovation for Agriculture, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Teagasc (Agriculture and Food Development Authority), and numerous veterinary practices and consultancy firms. Farm discussion groups have a long history in the UK and take many shapes and forms. AHDB run several discussion groups and interactive meetings on business planning, succession planning, livestock health programmes and environmental issues, such as improving soil health, all delivered through their dedicated Knowledge Exchange Managers (currently moved to online platforms) (AHDB, n.d.). In veterinary practice, getting groups of farmers together is used to relay information about changes to regulations (e.g. on bovine tuberculosis eradication), disease control strategies (e.g. bovine viral diarrhoea — BVDfree England) and improving knowledge on animal management (e.g. National Milk Laboratory meetings on Johne's disease management). Getting farmers together at a meeting or in a discussion group has also been used to engage with existing and new clients, sell a product or build rapport between participants.

However, holding a meeting on how to improve a certain aspect of farm management, for instance, is not a guarantee that farmers that attend will make a change once back on farm. Bard et al (2017) described the paternalistic approach veterinarians take when communicating with clients, whereby the objective is to relay information and steer the course of the conversation. Communication is frequently directive and consists of mainly closed questions (Bard, 2017), which differs to the communication style of a facilitator in a well-run discussion group (Hogan, 2003). Simply relaying information with no opportunity for dialogue is a flawed way of initiating and supporting change on farm. Nevertheless, many farmer meetings are built around an expert speaker and a Power Point presentation. This is knowledge transfer at best and although cost-effective at relaying information to many people at once, has been shown to result in little change on farm because of the variable levels of knowledge uptake and assimilation (Scoones Thompson, 1994; Šūmane et al, 2018). Opportunities to question, interrogate, reflect, ponder and plan are theoretically key elements in discussions between people, especially when encouraging change (Vaarst et al, 2007). Yet, they are frequently missing from farmer meetings in the UK.

This article aims to provide some practical tips for advisors to use when running farmer meetings and ways to improve outcomes on farm from facilitated discussions.

Disadvantages

Holding a meeting or workshop is a resource-heavy exercise; they take time to plan and organise, require materials, a venue, sometimes food, and usually persistent advertising and marketing. Engaging with a wide range of farmers on an invitation list is challenging, as their motivation to attend is likely to differ, making the message and purpose of a meeting or workshop even more important. Loud or vocal members can disrupt proceedings and ruin it for other participants. Stories or knowledge shared at group meetings may appear inaccurate or unhelpful. Compare this to one-to-one advice, it is a surprise farmer meetings are persevered with!

Nevertheless, the benefits of a well-run discussion group or workshop can be immense. Group discussion can help farmers learn from their peers; people that are in similar situations to themselves and are not lecturing from the unrelatable position of ‘expert’. Facilitated discussion allows space to challenge one another's pre-existing ideas and practices. It also favours the co-creation of solutions with a degree of autonomy for participants. This is necessary when trying to facilitate change and other techniques, such as motivational interviewing, have also described the importance of autonomy for those going through a process of change (Miller and Rollnick, 2013).

Facilitation

Facilitation is a vital element to a well-run discussion group or workshop. Facilitators help to avoid issues of only dominant characters making suggestions and speaking over more shy participants. Facilitators will keep discussions on track, to time and use a variety of communication strategies to probe the practices and ideas of participants (Hogan, 2003). Facilitators are active listeners that check the course of the discussion with the group and allow the group to take some responsibility for the process and outcomes. They fundamentally support and prioritise the perspectives of the participants, i.e. the farmers. A facilitator of a workshop that aims to foster change will mobilise the knowledge within the group and ensure there is follow-up to any plans or solutions the group may have created (Hogan, 2003). This article will provide practical steps in how to facilitate meetings with confidence, curiosity and with a degree of humility.

Preparation

The first question to ask is what is the purpose of the meeting or workshop? Is it the most appropriate forum to achieve this purpose or the group's objectives? Could the issue be resolved through one-to-one advice? Not all topics or contexts are suitable for a group meeting. Defining the purpose of a meeting is a good place to start when preparing, and an opportunity to reflect on what you think the objectives of the meeting should be and what potential participants think they are or should be. For instance, a workshop on vaccination may have the purpose of passing on knowledge about vaccines and try to improve compliance with vaccine protocols, but farmers attending might want the workshop to answer their preexisting queries on administering vaccines. On the surface these are similar workshops but from the differing perspectives, one will be aiming to pass on knowledge and the other will provide a chance for farmers to ask questions and hear how others have similar issues, which can result in more meaningful outcomes on farm. A meeting to pass on knowledge will look very different to one focused on finding solutions to farmer identified issues.

The next thing to ask is who is your target audience? Do you have specific clients in mind whom would appreciate a tailored workshop with personal invites? Would multiple different farms, perhaps across sectors, benefit from attending and hearing from one another? Some of the best farmer meetings the author has attended have included organic and conventional farm systems. Professional facilitators will often carry out a needs analysis of the target group to understand their issues and perspectives before planning a workshop (Hogan, 2003). Asking clients what they would like covered or who they want to hear from can be very beneficial when planning a meeting.

In Denmark, the Stable School model involves a series of discussion group meetings with a specific goal that brings everyone together (e.g. reducing antibiotic use in dairy farming) (Vaarst et al, 2007). It could be reducing levels of a disease with an objective measure decided on in the first meeting. It could be to co-create a solution to an existing farmer-identified problem or to improve a process or idea (Van Dijk, 2017). Goal orientated action helps a group to remain focused and to measure progress. It is important to return to the workshop goals at the end to discuss if they have been met, and if not why and what needs changing or whether they are longer-term aims. The facilitator has the responsibility to follow these up, as discussed later in this article.

The next point to consider is, what is the benefit to farmers from attending the meeting? More knowledge and information is not an attractive enough benefit and will only attract those that want to learn more about that specific subject. If there are tangible benefits from attending a meeting or workshop, such as assistance with passing farm assurance or data analysis and benchmarking, attendance and participation may improve. Being explicit about the benefits of the workshop will require you to know your target audience and what motivates and inspires each of them. If you can appeal to all of these and deliver on them, then your workshop is on target to be very successful.

The meeting itself

In the author's experience and from the work of AHDB and Teagasc, farmer meetings benefit from being held on farms. Seeing how peers manage their systems rather than simply hearing about it, in an open, ‘seeing is believing’ manner is added value. This is of course not always possible, not least in the pig and poultry sector where biosecurity means farm visitors are discouraged. If the meeting can be held on a farm, the inclusion of a farm walk is advantageous as this adds a practical element to learning at a meeting. There is added benefit for the host farm too in that they gain feedback on their farm from a group of like-minded farmers. Likewise, this can be daunting and not suitable for everyone, especially at busy points in the year. The time of the meeting or workshop may render onfarm meetings impractical, but this comes back to the need analysis of the target audience — when is the most convenient time and location for a meeting?

Meeting length is very much a product of who is attending and for what purpose. As a rule, anything more than an hour needs breaks or intervals. From the author's experience working in the UK farming industry, you will be doing well to get farmers to a meeting that lasts more than 3–4 hours, unless compulsory like a speed awareness course! Food is a welcome sight at most meetings, especially if over a mealtime or for a protracted period. What food you provide can be an ethical and sourcing nightmare… or a point of discussion.

Facilitators will have a whole toolbox of activities for workshops and they can be broadly split into:

• Openers/ice breakers (which can include setting goals)
• Group activities (pairs, small groups, in plenary)
• Team building
• Problem solving
• Reducing tension activities
• Energisers.

There are plenty of resources available for ideas for discussion group activities and tools, such as ‘Sharing the load’ (Van Dijk et al, 2010). Examples of discussion tools for action are discussed next, developed as part of the AHDB Dairy funded Farmer Action Group project and in collaboration with Sarah Bolt of Kingshay Independent Dairy Specialists.

Sticky notes and posters

Sticky notes are the most frequently used workshop tool and are very versatile and easy to work with. They allow participants to contribute ideas individually, which can overcome fear of speaking out in large groups, and they are easy to collate after an event and consolidate into a meeting summary report. They also allow participants to place their ideas and move them around, which helps with physical engagement at a meeting. Be sensitive to those that do not want to or cannot write their ideas down. Illiteracy does exist in farming and can make people feel very embarrassed.

Activity

• Place a large A1/A2 poster on a wall that everyone can access
• Draw or write areas of the host farm or a typical farm on the poster, e.g. calf shed, calving pen, cubicles, pasture etc.
• Ask the group to individually write suggestions of positive aspects of the host farm/own farm on their sticky note, one suggestion per sticky note, and place in the relevant category on the poster
• Ask the group to individually write recommendations of things to change or evaluate on the host farm/own farm on the sticky note and place in the relevant category on the poster
• Discuss the points in sequence, asking for further elaboration (‘Tell me more about…’) or solutions to the recommendations (‘How does the group suggest this is achieved?’).

Mapping

Mapping is very useful as a tool when literacy or language is a problem. It taps into people's creative side and can be entertaining to watch develop as a group. It may not work with all groups, especially if it is a new group or the group do not know each other very well.

Activity

• Place a large piece of paper in the centre of a group, ideally on a table (works best with groups of 3–6, larger groups may need splitting)
• Provide plenty of pens, stickers, colours for the participants to use
• Ask the groups to draw a map of one of their farms/the host farm (especially helpful if the group has been on a farm walk)/typical farm/ideal farm
• Ask for a volunteer from each group to do the drawing of the map and for the rest in their group to direct and supervise
• Encourage artistic license and use of materials
• Once complete, depending on the topic of the meeting, ask the participants to place stickers/markers on the map highlighting pinch points, areas of concern, positive points, potential solutions etc
• Discuss these in turn asking participants why they placed their marker there, what things they would change and how (Figure 1).

Scoring activities

This exercise is based around numbers and allows individuals to input anonymously and equally with no repercussions. It can be daunting for a host farm if they are to be the subject of the ranking but allows them to collect feedback on their business and practices. If there is no host farm, then the activity can be changed to be about disease control or ‘jobs that need doing on farm currently’.

Activity

• Draw a table with several rows describing areas of the host farm with a column for the score and another wider column titled ‘reason for score’. Alternatively, the rows could be steps to control and prevent mastitis/Johne's/lameness etc
• Print one table or score chart (Table 1) per piece of paper with as many pieces of paper as participants
• Ask everyone to rank the areas of the host farm from 1–10 (10 = excellent; 1 = awful), with an optional explanation of the score. This is based on participants' own knowledge and experience. Alternatively, ask individuals to rank the disease control measures or steps to prevent disease in order of most important/easiest etc. (1 = most important/easiest, 10 = least important/easiest)
• Ensure no one writes their name on their piece of paper. Collect each participant's score chart and copy their answers onto a large poster in the same format as the individual score charts. Remember who owns which score chart and return them accordingly (Table 1)
• Add up the scores for each row (i.e. area of the host farm/disease control measure) into a total column on the right of the chart
• Discuss the high scoring areas and the low scoring areas as a group, inviting volunteers to explain their scores and offer solutions. Ask the host what they think of the solutions and then move onto asking the group how they could be implemented. Alternatively, the lowest scores for disease control reflect the most important/easiest step to implement. Ask the host farm or group if and how they hope to implement these measures.

Ranking exercises

Like the previous activity, this exercise also avoids writing or drawing and encourages participants to move around using items to rank areas of a farm. It is very versatile and can be used as an energiser as well as a visual aid to allow the group to see where work or change is needed.

Activity

• Arrange several bowls in the centre of a room, labelled with areas of the host farm (if the group has been on a farm walk) or group identified issues, such as staffing (so recruiting, interviewing, salary, bonuses, hours, sickness etc)
• Hand out several ping pong balls to each participant, ideally colour coded or labelled (e.g. red for opportunities for change; green for positives)
• Ask everyone to place their ping pong balls in the relevant bowl indicating areas of the farm they thought were positive and areas where there were opportunities for change (Figure 2)
• Ask the group to elaborate on their choices, focusing on the bowls with mostly red ping pong balls in. Alternatively, ask the group to share their solutions to identified issues, top tips or recommendations.

1-minute challenges

A quick energizer that is very helpful for sharing detailed procedures in a group is the 1-minute selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) challenge. This involves each participant having 1 minute to describe their exact procedure for drying off a cow (i.e. order of tube insertion, handling of the udder and teats). Everyone gets to hear how one another conducts SDCT and the time limit adds pressure to recount the process. The facilitator can write down the steps on a poster and compare in discussion afterwards to find areas of commonality and points of difference.

Competitions/quizzes

A degree of competitiveness, such as an informal quiz with prizes, can add an element of fun to otherwise intense meetings. It also allows the trainer or facilitator to assess everyone's knowledge and uptake of key information.

Feedback

Long written feedback forms are often dreaded by participants and done in a rush. Asking participants what they have learned or will change because of the meeting or workshop can be a helpful feedback tool, but it is questionable how well this captures impact. Reporting an intention to change is not as useful as following up actual changes on farm, in the author's opinion. A quick and easy method to assess the response of participants is to have a large poster by the exit with a bullseye on it (Figure 3). It can be split into 3–4 sections, such as overall day, facilitator, activity 1, activity 2. Ask participants to place a sticker in the relevant score for each section based on their experience of the workshop (i.e. the middle is highest scoring).

Follow-up

Another key role of a facilitator is follow-up after workshops and meetings. This can and should be shaped by the needs of the group. It could be a written summary, provision of baseline data to meet a shared objective or perhaps sending links to further information or answers to specific questions brought up at the meeting. Provision of data and benchmarking progress is an important tool that can be utilised and discussed at follow-up (as well as during workshops), especially if the group decides on a measurable goal. The facilitator can start to collate, benchmark and share the relevant data to measure progress against the goal after or between meetings. For advisors wanting to measure the impact of these approaches, the use of data in the form of disease indices, production parameters etc. and measuring over time can be a powerful marker of impact. The experiences and continual participation of farmers in workshops and group meetings can also demonstrate lasting impact.

When action planning is used as an outcome from a workshop, the facilitator should continue to communicate with the host farmer/participant farmers as to the progress of the action plan and how its implementation is going. This follow-up should be indicated at the meeting, so farmers know to expect it. It can help add a degree of accountability if this progress is captured and used in subsequent meetings too. In-person visits are often appreciated and are part of veterinary work, so making use of these by asking about the progress of any recommendations agreed to by the farmer, the meeting of objectives from the workshop and any questions raised at the meeting is beneficial. The process of forming a discussion group that meet regularly and visit one another's farms is a great way to build rapport within a group and peer accountability, both of which help support changes in practice (Morgans, 2020).

Current challenges for engagement

Due to ongoing restrictions from the pandemic, many farmer meetings and discussion groups have moved to online platforms. This can pose challenges for maximum engagement, not least internet connectivity issues, not feeling able/comfortable speaking out, or for the facilitator particularly, managing overly dominant characters virtually. There are ways around some of these difficulties, such as having ‘ground rules’ before starting and mechanisms to allow everyone to speak if they wish. Digital platforms, such as Zoom have break out room functionality, which can also help facilitators manage large groups. In the author's experience, ~10 people is maximum for online workshops and fruitful discussion, otherwise break out rooms are needed. There are online tools to help with generating ideas and solutions within online discussion groups, such as Mural, Mentimeter and Klaxxon. A degree of familiarity and guidance is needed to have success using these tools though. From a practical perspective, having participants connect from a desktop rather than a mobile phone also influences the use of these online tools as they require having multiple tabs open. Nevertheless, the use of digital tools such as these and the huge increase in webinars in recent months, has increased the reach of farm events and meetings. Those that would have otherwise had to travel long distances to meetings or would not have had the time to participate have now been given an opportunity to do so. It is another valuable tool to add to the facilitator toolkit when facilitating farm workshops. The author has even started including a Zoom link for joining in-person farm walks from your home, so that more people further afield can join in and participate.

Conclusion

Farmer meetings, discussion groups and workshops are a golden opportunity to explore topics in greater depth and to elicit the opinions and perspectives of farmers. This will not only help farmers review and appraise their practices, consider new ideas and formulate solutions, but will lead to better engagement between advisors and their clients. Facilitation can help ensure that the maximum benefit is gained from meetings. This in turn will help result in change on farm that will improve the lives of livestock and those that look after them. There is a lack of accredited and professional training for facilitators within UK agriculture, but the development of the Farmer-Led Innovation Network at the Royal Agricultural University is attempting to change this. At Innovation for Agriculture, we are also offering bespoke training packages for veterinarians and other advisors interested in upskilling in facilitation. Please contact the author at lisam@i4agri.org for more information.

KEY POINTS

• Facilitation and facilitated discussion activities can help advisors get more from farmer meetings by prioritising and mobilising the knowledge within a group.
• Facilitation is a communication skill and a role within workshops to help a group reach a common goal.
• Facilitators help a group achieve more than they would individually.
• Facilitated workshops and meetings differ to the traditional discussion group that is common in UK agriculture by having shared goals to measure progress over time, reflective peer-to-peer discussion and targeted action with an element of follow-up
• Farm-specific facilitation training for advisors is available from Innovation for Agriculture and the Farmer-led Innovation Network.