Why farmers are turning to mentors for their toughest decisions
© Adobe Stock More farmers are turning to mentors to help tackle difficult business decisions, from succession and diversification to staff management and finding direction amid rapid change.
Helen Wyman, founder of the mentoring platform TwoCan, believes many of the industry’s challenges could be eased by giving farmers access to someone who can support their ambitions and bring an independent perspective.
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Originally launched as Cultivate Success, the programme has evolved into TwoCan following rapid growth and the development of a more sophisticated matching system.
Around 350 people have now taken part across its food, farming and horticulture programmes.
Supporting people
Mentors, Helen says, encourage participants to explore challenges through questioning, while leaving professional or technical advice to the appropriate specialists.
“Most farmers are head down doing the day-to-day delivery,” she says.
“But what actually will grow that business and make it more profitable is spending time out of that business and looking at it with somebody who has a completely fresh perspective, who is not emotionally attached to you or to everything else.”
That approach, she adds, can be particularly valuable as farmers navigate economic pressures, policy uncertainty and changing family circumstances.
TwoCan’s matching process has developed significantly since the programme launched.
Participants now complete an in-depth recorded interview exploring their background, motivations, values and ambitions.
This information is combined with technology developed alongside academics and data scientists to match people based on “the whole person”, rather than simply sector or geography.
“Just because you’re a dairy farmer in Yorkshire and a dairy farmer in Lancashire does not mean you’re going to get on,” Helen says.
Although perceptions are changing, she believes mentoring still carries some stigma within agriculture.
Helen recalls an older farmer telling her there was once a time when neighbours would gossip if an agronomist or land agent drove onto a farm because it suggested the farmer “couldn’t cope”.
“I think that’s the same with mentoring,” she says. “The more we can spread good stories of people who are respected in the industry who go, ‘Yeah, I need a mentor’, then it trickles.”
Her ambition is for mentoring eventually to be regarded as another normal part of the farm business toolkit and hopes more mentors and mentees will join the programme.
Getting involved
The six-month programme sees mentors and mentees paired following a training event, with support provided by TwoCan throughout the relationship.
Prospective participants complete a 30-40min interview before attending a full-day course, where mentors and mentees develop listening, questioning and mentoring skills while building wider industry networks.
The next training day takes place in York in October, with around 50 people already signed up and capacity for 80.
The cost of joining is currently under review, but Helen says finance should not be a barrier and encourages anyone interested to discuss potential sources of financial support with TwoCan.
Two heads can be better than one
For Somerset farmer and rural accountant Mark Seager, having the financial skills to assess a £3m farm diversification project did not necessarily make taking the next step any easier.
Mark combines four days a week as an accountant with running his family’s 81ha farm, which has been in the family for more than a century.
With 16ha under solar panels and the remainder largely grassland, he had been exploring ways to develop the business, including plans for a commercial poultry unit.
Despite his professional experience, Mark recognised the value of having someone outside the family and business who could challenge his thinking.
Through TwoCan he was paired with Lincolnshire arable farmer Stewart Davey, who farms about 600ha with his brother and nephew.
“I didn’t necessarily need help on the finances,” Mark says.
“It was more that I needed someone to challenge my thinking and hold me to account.”
One of Stewart’s biggest contributions was pushing Mark to tackle something he had been avoiding – preparing the cashflow for the proposed development.
Despite being an accountant, Mark admits he feared the figures could prove the project did not stack up.
Being accountable to Stewart prompted him to complete the work, triggering earlier conversations with his bank and family and helping move the project forward.
But the benefits went beyond practical business decisions.
Mark says having an experienced sounding board brought “calm and stability” during a challenging planning process and allowed him to draw on Stewart’s experience of major farm investments.
For Stewart, mentoring is deliberately different from consultancy.
Rather than telling someone what to do, the mentor listens, challenges priorities and helps the mentee reach their own conclusions.
“You’re there for support. You’re there for advice. You’re there to challenge,” Stewart says.
Seeing the resulting progress is one of the most rewarding aspects for him.
“They may be all over the place, and then by the time you’ve finished the process, they’re in a better place. They’re more focused,” he says.
The formal six-month mentoring relationship has now finished, but the pair remain in contact, with Stewart keen to see Mark’s longer-term plans through.
Mark is also considering becoming a mentor himself after experiencing the benefits from the other side.
“No one is too big to have a mentor. No one knows too much to have a mentor,” he says.
For an industry where major decisions are often made within family businesses, Mark believes having a trusted outsider can provide something particularly valuable – a different perspective.
