As with any relationship, you must invest time and effort to build a rapport with your landlord.
“Communication can make or break a relationship between a tenant and landowner,” says Karisha Devlin, University of Missouri field specialist.
To communicate well with landowners, Devlin suggests farmers follow these four steps:
1. Gauge how often landowners would like to receive updates.
Should you send out information monthly, quarterly or on a semiannual basis? Or, you can time updates to coincide with significant on-farm activities or seasons. For example, you might share information at a few notable points during the year: pre-planting, post-planting, midseason, post-harvest and winter.
“The important takeaway is to create a schedule and follow it,” Devlin says. “With a schedule, you can strategically plan your messages, and following the schedule shows landowners that they can depend on you to reliably share information.”
2. Select a communication channel you and your landowner feel comfortable using.
Each communication channel has strengths and weaknesses, as well as unique characteristics, Devlin points out. For instance:
- Email: Free and an accepted form of business communication. However, email offers little opportunity to create an appealing design.
- Newsletters: Can be mailed or delivered digitally. They often include multiple sections and feature content about several topics, so they’re good for comprehensively communicating the state of the farm. However, preparing and organizing all of the content involves time and planning.
- Social Media: You can quickly share photos, audio, video and written messages. However, with social media, recognize that followers — including landowners — may not see all of your posts in their feeds.
3. Share about topics that interest the landowner.
Part of understanding your audience includes knowing what they care about and their interests. Some
Possible topics to include are crop progress summaries, management practice changes and weather updates, price outlook and upcoming events.
Aim for consistency in your messaging so the recipient can easily recognize messages from you. Including contact information, such as a contact person’s name, phone number and email address, indicates a tenant is willing to visit, share further details and answer landowners’ questions, Devlin adds.
4. Keep the presentation of your message simple.
Use text that is easy to read. Try to avoid farm lingo and jargon your landlord may not understand.
The tone you choose can also say a lot, Devlin says. A friendly, conversational yet professional tone can effectively engage the reader and show your authenticity. When possible, incorporate photos and videos into your regular communication helps landowners to visualize the messages you’re sharing. Plus, both photos and videos can make a landowner, particularly one who doesn’t live near the farm, feel connected to the operation.
Find more details in the “Communicating With Landowners” guide from the University of Missouri Extension.
Read More
5 Tips to Impress Your Landlord
