Wednesday, 15 July 2020 10:20

Action groups carry on-line

Written by  Staff Reporters
RMPP Action Group facilitator John Stantiall says farmers adapted to digital meetings better than he expected. Photo: file. RMPP Action Group facilitator John Stantiall says farmers adapted to digital meetings better than he expected. Photo: file.

Red Meat Profit Partnership (RMPP) Action Group facilitator John Stantiall was unsure, at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown, how meetings could work.

“But then I discovered Zoom and farmers adapted to that far better than I expected,” he says.

Stantiall, who is an agricultural consultant with Perrin Ag, facilitates eight Action Groups. His groups broke their usual full-day, on-farm meetings down into three Zoom meetings – including ‘virtual farm visits’.

He was also a regular participant in the weekly online support meetings RMPP invited all their facilitators to join throughout alert levels 3 and 4. This enabled them to share experiences and advice around the different online tools they were using. 

Since July 2019, RMPP had already been running monthly online meetings, which all facilitators could participate in. However, during lockdown these were held weekly to provide additional support and advice about facilitating remotely and using online tools, and to practice using them. The number of participants increased significantly.

“We are in contact with all our facilitators regularly,” says Denise Bewsell, extension specialist for the RMPP Action Network. 

“We get to hear what is happening with each of the groups but thought it would be great for facilitators to be able to share experiences and practical tips directly. We always say that ‘farmers like to talk to farmers’ – and facilitators like to talk to facilitators,” she adds.

“Increasing that to weekly meetings worked really well. There were really varied responses from facilitators at the start of lockdown in terms of how they felt online meetings would work. Some were confident it would work, while others felt it would be hard and were concerned about broadband or that farmers would not have the right equipment. 

“It was really good for them to talk about their experiences and for those who were concerned to talk with other facilitators who were already trying it. We very quickly had people asking each other a lot of questions, such as ‘how is shared Google Docs working for you’ or ‘how are you finding using Chatbox?’ Shared experience really supported people in getting started with online meetings.” 

The facilitator meetings will also include sessions with subject matter experts including Australians Dr Ruth Nettle, an authority on extension in rural change, and extension specialist John James. Another upcoming talk is planned with sport development consultant Hugh Galvan of Sport New Zealand. 

Stantiall says that he found the RMPP weekly meetings incredibly supportive and kicking off online Action Group meetings with a relaxed approach worked well. 

“In the early ones, in particular, farmers were still facing a lot of issues alongside the lockdown,” he says. “It was still very dry, and many needed to sell stock. They really appreciated the meetings continuing and being able to just talk to other farmers.

“Without Zoom it would have been difficult to have any meetings at all and that could also potentially have been a threat to my work.”

Stantiall also sees greater opportunities for engaging with farmers remotely in the future. 

“This has opened up a whole new range of opportunities for expert speakers,” he says. 

“Coming out of lockdown, we have had Action Group meetings back on farm and we have enough to focus on in the short to medium term, but in the longer term planning, options will include getting expert speakers via Zoom for a lot less cost, when you don’t have to take travel and accommodation into account.”

More like this

Covid's urban/rural divide

According to a new study from the University of Otago, there was a visible rural/urban divide in Covid-19 vaccination rates.

Covid inquiry to visit Northland

Better understanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the people of Northland, and the role communities played in the pandemic response, will be the focus of a visit from the Covid-19 Inquiry, says inquiry chair Professor Tony Blakely.

Reflecting a challenging period

Damien O'Connor admits his six years in office were incredibly challenging, with Covid, droughts, floods, storms, M. bovis and volcanic eruptions to name a few.

Editorial: Time for change

OPINION: With election day only a few days away and advance voting well underway, there appears to be a mood for change in rural and provincial New Zealand.

More pain yet!

China's slower than expected recovery from Covid-19 and an oversupply of Australian sheep meat is causing problems for NZ sheep farmers.

Featured

Dairy sheep and goat turmoil

Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.

Hurry up and slow down!

OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.

Editorial: Passage to India

OPINION: Even before the National-led coalition came into power, India was very much at the fore of its trade agenda.

National

Knowing bugs means fewer drugs

A mastitis management company claims to deliver the fastest and most accurate mastitis testing available at scale for New Zealand…

Machinery & Products

100 years of Farmall Tractors

Returning after an enforced break, the Wheat and Wheels Rally will take place on the Lauriston -Barhill Road, North-East of…

JD unveils its latest beast

John Deere has unveiled its most powerful tractor ever, with the launch of the all new 9RX Series Tractor line-up…

Biggest Quadtrac coming to NZ!

In the biggest announcement that Case IH Australia/New Zealand has made around its tractor range, its biggest tractor is about…

A different shade of blue for Norwood

Norwood and ARGO Tractors, the Italian manufacturer of Landini and McCormick tractors, have announced an agreement that gives Norwood exclusive…

Kubota tests diesel engines

Kubota last month used the UK LAMMA Show to test the water with its new 200hp, four-cylinder 09-series diesel engines.

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Why?

OPINION: A mate of yours truly wants to know why the beef schedule differential is now more than 45-50 cents…

Fat to cut

OPINION: Your canine crusader understands that MPI were recently in front of the Parliamentary Primary Sector Select Committee for an…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter