Does mentorship make better farmers?
In this Farming Focus™ series opener, podcast host Peter Green explores the potential of a mentor and asks if mentoring someone else can be equally beneficial. He’s joined by TwoCan Mentor founder Helen Wyman and Dorset dairy farmer George Holmes to find out more.
What is mentorship for farmers?
Having benefited from several mentors, particularly after returning from maternity leave, and making it the topic of her Nuffield Farming Scholarship, Helen Wyman was keen to point out farm mentorship is not just about older farmers mentoring the young.
She described a mentor as: “Someone who wants somebody else to succeed and they’re doing it not for their own ego. The mentee brings a lot to the table. The mentor learns as well as the mentee, so [are] willing to go on that journey with people and not tunnel visioned in what that mentee needs to get to.”
George Holmes agreed, seeing listening and asking questions as central to good mentoring: “You want your mentee to come to their own decision and conclusion, and you're helping support that by getting them to see the options and opportunities to find their own solutions.”
George also described his experience of informal mentor support, through farmer discussion groups and the relationship he has with his son on the farm: “I'm there as a mentor for him, …. although occasionally, I have to say his experience in some areas can be mentorship for me.”
He also believes he gained from informal mentors during his MBA studies: “Some of the people I was with on my course had significant business experience, particularly one guy who was a marketeer. I learned an awful lot from him rather than just from the lectures.”
In short, there’s no hierarchy in mentorship.
How mentoring can support farm succession planning
Describing a case study from her business, Helen suggested mentorship can support farmers involved with farm succession planning. Connecting with a mentor outside agriculture, without any emotional involvement, was vital to one farmer’s situation, as he grappled with whether to continue the family farm:
“It's just allowed him the clarity of thought and space. There's no judgment in that relationship. It's purely wanting to support.”
Could mentoring stop dairy farmers leaving the industry?
Having recently completed his MBA, George believes mentoring could play a role in the future of dairy farming. His studies included research into why dairy farmers leave the industry, with a lack of control and limited autonomy, plus the associated stresses they bring, featuring highly.
“You had to have initiatives that would focus on problem solving and goal setting because they are associated with lower levels of stress. And that's taking us back to mentoring and the discussion groups and all of that type of thing. So, there's a really strong link between this mentoring and helping farmers to continue dairy farming.”
How common is mentorship for farmers?
Helen and George both agreed mentoring comes in many forms.
Helen commented: “I think it's more common than we think, and I just don't think it's been given a name, but we touched on it, the different types of formal and informal mentorship, and I feel they have slightly different roles.”
She described informal mentorship as involving people you know, discussion group members or others within that community. In contrast, she believes more formal mentorship occurs outside those “echo chambers”, suggesting “you have to be in the right place to want to go and do it, to take that step and move forward and to look at different things.”
She’d also like to overcome the perception she’s heard of farm mentoring being a sign of failure: “It’s a positive and a proactive thing to do for you and your business.”
The last word on mentoring:
“Talking and sharing and not taking the burden alone is incredibly important to be successful in farming and for good mental health. I think I've had a successful career in farming, and I couldn't have done that without many mentors who supported me along the way.” George Holmes
“We go down the road of connecting [them] with somebody that isn't emotionally associated with themselves, giving them the freedom to talk openly and have a sounding board, and just that clarity of thought.” Helen Wyman
Peter’s showstoppers
- Mentoring doesn’t have to be formal; it can be informal too
- Mentoring is a mutually beneficial experience and more about attitude than age and experience
- Whether mentor or mentee, be ready to ask questions and listen to the answers