Often one of the most unpleasant tasks of farming is planning, but farm planning may be the single most important tool at a farmer’s disposal. Careful planning can minimize costly mistakes, eliminate redundancies and create a clear path of profitable action. As Tamara Benjamin, a program leader at Purdue University points out one effective method of planning is […]
Category: Multigenerational Farming
Owning a family farm is a dream for many people. One of the most difficult aspects of farming is passing down the farm to future generations. As tax and business laws continue to change, it is getting difficult to develop succession planning with family farming. Successful farming plans require a lot of research and work on the front […]
In their Estate Planning farm families usually rely on a trust to avoid unnecessary taxes and government involvement. By creating a trust the farmer makes sure that his intentions for distributing farm assets prevail after death. When a trust is in effect, there is no need for probate because the trust owns the property and […]
Farms used to be passed along throughout generations by default. It simply made sense that parents would pass a family farm along to their children, who had grown up participating in farm life. Although the practice of maintaining multigenerational farms is less common now, maintaining a multigenerational farm still has benefits for the family, the […]
Valentine’s Day is here and that means that love is in the air… And as you celebrate the hearts that make yours skip a beat, don’t forget to celebrate the farm – that living, breathing, heart-beating thing that pulls you all together and gives you all a shared purpose that is so much bigger than […]
You’ve worked hard to keep your farm alive. You’re proud of it. It’s like a child to you. And, like any child, you think about its future. You want what’s best for it, and you want to ensure it will be in safe hands after you’re gone. This farm is your legacy. It is years […]
“10% of Farmland Expected to be Transferred by 2019.” This is the title of an article on the Wisconsin Ag Connection website that points out the overall advanced age of U.S. farmers. Approximately a third reached the age of 65 in 2014. By 2019 farmland owners are projected to transfer 93 million acres, mostly though […]
It’s never too soon to decide who will care for the family farm when you are ready to pass the torch to the next generation. Unfortunately, it is a conversation all to often postponed until it’s too late. A recent article on estate planning notes that, “Individuals put off estate planning because they think they don’t own […]
Handing down the family farm through the generations has been a long-honored tradition for many families across the United States. It offers a nostalgic image that at one time could be considered living the American dream. Nowadays, though, there are indications that this isn’t happening as often as it used to. The simple fact of […]
It’s a common tradition in the farming industry that estates are passed down within the family to continue production for upcoming generations. It used to be as simple as signing over the deed to your children, and then they simply took over. Today, however, with the numerous estate laws now in place, retiring farmers need […]