Learning on the job: how do farm business managers get the skills and knowledge to manage their businesses?

Industry leaders and agricultural educators believe that farmers should be participating in training about management and marketing, while few farmers plan to attend formal training in these areas. This paper examines the differing perceptions of experts and farmers in relation to farmers’ management and marketing learning needs and the attitudes of farmers toward farm business management training. More progressive farmers were proactive in identifying and meeting learning needs in management and marketing and were also the group most likely to have used training in learning for change, and to plan to train to meet learning needs in the future.

Most farmers used multiple learning sources when learning about management, marketing and management-related issues. Most used informal sources, mainly experts, supplemented by observation and experience, other farmers, and print and electronic media. Training was very rarely the only source used. Show less