Navigating Your Ag Business: From Stress to Success
Navigating Your Ag Business:
From Stress to Success
An online course designed to support farm businesses to make decisions, take action to move their farms forward, and reduce the farm members’ stress
Navigating Your Ag Business: From Stress to Success is an Extension course that blends online learning and resources with live group meetings to help farmers evaluate and address a challenge, a decision, or an opportunity. It is designed to help farmers and their families reduce their stress through targeted planning.
Course Overview
The course follows a 3-step process by answering the following questions:
1. Where are you now?
2. Where do you want to be?
3. How do you get there?
The course provides a mix of lectures, videos, homework assignments, de-stressing activities, and live virtual group discussions. It provides a framework to identify your current stressors, evaluate your financial position, develop your vision and goals for your farm and your family, and develop an action plan to address your identified stressors and reach your goals.
Activities include Money Habitudes, gathering information about the history of the farm and how it is currently operated, collecting financial information for analysis, conducting a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats), exploring participants’ visions for the farm, and developing next steps.
What will I learn?
You will learn how to:
- Prioritize your current unique stressors
- Identify your financial goals
- Develop your vision and goals for your farm and family
- Design an action plan to address your stressors and reach your goals
Register
Register now for the January 2025 session!
This online course will open on January 1, 2025 and will run through March 2025. The self-paced work takes approximately 10-15 hours over the three months. There will be a live Zoom meeting on Tuesday January 28, 2025 from 6–7:30 PM Central Time. Optional “open office hours” will be hosted via Zoom from 6-7 PM on Tuesdays throughout February and March (Feb 4, Feb 11, Feb 25, Mar 11, and Mar 25). The course will end with a final Zoom meeting on March 25, 2025 from 7-8 PM Central Time.
If you are unable to join the January session, but would like to participate in a future session, please fill out the course waitlist form below!
Frequently asked questions
How much does this course cost?
The 2025 course is grant-supported and free of charge. Future courses will have a fee of approximately $150/Farm (farms can have up to 5 members participate in the course for this fee).
Who should register for this course?
Farmers who are considering a change, faced with a big decision, or farmers who want to carve out time to plan for the future of their business and need an accountability structure to commit the time to plan.
Can I register at any time?
Registration for the 2025 course begins October 2024.
The course opens on January 1, 2025. There is approximately 2 – 3 hours of work in to complete to be fully prepared for the first live Zoom session on January 28, 2025. Materials will be mailed to participants. Early registration is suggested so that these materials will arrive in time for participants to prepare for the live Zoom session on January 28, 2025.
Approximately how long does the course take to complete?
The course runs from January through March. The self-paced work takes approximately 10-15 hours over the three months. There will be a live Zoom meeting on Tuesday January 28, 2025 from 6–7:30 PM Central Time. Optional “open office hours” will be hosted via Zoom from 6-7 PM on Tuesdays throughout February and March (Feb 4, Feb 11, Feb 25, Mar 11, and Mar 25). The course will end with a final Zoom meeting on March 25, 2025 from 7-8 PM. There will be three opportunities for one-on-one meetings with facilitators throughout the course.
What materials will I need to complete this online course?
Device with internet access: We recommend using a computer to complete this course. If you do not have a computer, you can also access the online course through your phone, tablet, or other device. You must have internet access. A camera and microphone for the Live Zoom sessions would be beneficial, but are optional.
Logbook: You will receive a hard copy of the course logbook in the mail after you register. The logbook includes worksheets, activities, and reflections to accompany the online course content.
Adobe Reader: Download the latest version of Adobe Reader to view PDF (portable document format) files. Note: Do not select the optional offer for McAfee Security Scan Plus.
Word Processor, Presentation, and Spreadsheet Software: Choose from the following options:
- Microsoft Office (free for UW-Madison students through Office 365 portal; for PC or Mac)
- Google Docs (free cloud service; web browser-based)
- OpenOffice (free download; for PC or Mac)
Is this online course accessible for people who require special needs or services?
Yes. UW-Madison has specific accessibility requirements regarding online content, both to benefit learners and to comply with the law. We have designed the Navigating Your Ag Business: From Stress to Success online course content to meet those requirements.
Who should I contact if I have more questions?
For more information, contact Joy Kirkpatrick at joy.kirkpatrick@wisc.edu or 608-263-3485.
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This material was developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection Farm Center.
This course was made possible through the North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center: Engaging Programs to Support Producer Well-being (NCFRSAC) and is based upon work supported by the USDA/NIFA under award numbers 2020-70028-32728 and 2024-70028-43552.
