1. Farm and Farm Family Risk and Resiliency Toolkit
Based on the work of the authors, several tools were created to support introducing the concepts of risk and resilience for farm audiences. Six are included in the toolkit.
a. Thriving Farm Visuals and Descriptions
To illustrate how the health and well-being of the farm is dependent on a number of factors, the authors created a factsheet, Creating a Thriving Farm Visuals, Descriptions and Stacking Game, to illustrate the factors that would characterize thriving, coping, struggling, and failing farms. This factsheet outlines these characteristics for each type of farm and provides visuals that can be used to show how
Photo by University of Delaware Cooperative Extension staff
a farm can move from thriving to failing if a key farm employee becomes ill and other factors are diminished over time. The fact sheet describes the socio-ecological factors for each type of farm. Developed by the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and University of Maryland Extension, the factsheet is available at https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/canr/cooperative-extension/personal-economic- development/agribusiness/
b. Building a Thriving Farm – Stacking Game
This game’s objective is to show how key elements work together and support one another to build a resilient, thriving farm that can manage risks. Educators can use this activity to set the stage for education about key risk management strategies, including health. Using the blocks labeled with critical elements of a thriving farm, participants build their farm by stacking and prioritizing pieces to create a thriving farm. Once built, the facilitator announces a scenario, like someone becoming unable to work due to illness or farm accident. Participants must remove blocks that are impacted by the scenario, and the structural integrity of the farm will be affected. Participants will see how well their structure is built. The facilitator then asks questions and provides information about how to anticipate and put into place best practices to stabilize the farm during times of distress based on the scenario. Developed by the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and University of Maryland Extension. Information about and directions for instruction can be found within the factsheet, Creating a Thriving Farm Visuals, Descriptions and Stacking Game located at https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/canr/cooperative-extension/personal-economic- development/agribusiness/ The Stacking Game was used with youth who learned about succession planning during the 2020 Delaware Ag Week Risk Management Session. They started by building their thriving farm using the Stacking Game then they asked questions of a lawyer, accountant and other professionals after reviewing a succession planning case scenario.
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