A coaching training program has opened ways for south-west Victorian dairy farmers to better plan their future.
Our Farm Our Plan (OFOP) facilitator Cath Jenkins has recently graduated with a Certificate IV in Business and Personal Coaching from FireUp Coaching after receiving a scholarship from the DemoDAIRY Foundation to fund half of her course.
A former dairy farmer, Mrs Jenkins now works in advisory, coaching and facilitation roles along with running a chicken and beef enterprise at South Purrumbete.
She says the training has given her new leadership skills and effective questioning techniques to help farmers reach their goals.
In addition to facilitating Dairy Australia’s OFOP, Mrs Jenkins also facilitates a WestVic Dairy Focus Farm and does project work for Dairy Australia helping with an online tool for farmers to assess their environmental management practices. She also works more broadly in coaching teams and small business.
The course, recognised by the International Coaching Federation, covered coaching foundations such as awareness of self, flexible and positive coaching approaches using effective communication, the art of coaching including preparing a coaching plan, listening actively and questioning techniques, transformational coaching and the business of coaching.
OFOP includes workshops and one-on-one sessions with participants. “It’s quite challenging when farmers ask what do you think we should do,” Mrs Jenkins said. “Now I can use different open-ended questioning techniques to help them come to those decisions, which I believe will be of great benefit to dairy farmers in the program.”
Mrs Jenkins, who also contributed to the cost of the course, said the FireUp course allowed her to practice on other participants in a supervised format.
“I was able to bring up issues and work through them,” she said. “I got a better insight into myself and being able to apply that to farmers and other people.”
The success of the program has prompted her to explore other opportunities to offer business coaching.
“I think there are potential gaps in the dairy industry and in agribusiness in general to get farmers to learn about themselves,” she said. “Who knows where that can go.”
Mrs Jenkins said the $5000 DemoDAIRY Foundation scholarship had been very helpful. “Because I had the ongoing focus on Our Farm, Our Plan, I knew I’d get benefits for that program and for other projects I facilitate,” she said.
DemoDAIRY Foundation has a variety of scholarships and grants available. Visit https://www.demodairy.com.au/scholarships-and-grants/ for more information.