Developing Strong Systems for Communication, Feedback, and Decision-Making with Rock Steady Farm

Without strong systems for communication, feedback, and decision-making, farm teams can get slowed down by unresolved frustrations or conflicts and lack of clarity around how decisions are made. This session will cover some of the strategies that even time-limited farmers can use to cultivate smoother and more well-functioning farm teams in the long run, including: building in regular time and space for feedback among farm team members, mid-season and end-of-season check-ins between farm management and employees, and decision-making structures that value multiple perspectives while also supporting efficiency. Maggie Cheney and D Rooney, co-founders of the cooperative farm Rock Steady Farm, will share from their years of experience developing and using such systems with their farm team, with concrete examples from their farm context. Contact marisa@buylocalfood.org with any questions.

CISA’s winter farmer-to-farmer series on employee management is supported by the Northeast Extension Risk Management project award no. 2024-70027-42540, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.