Farming families are built tough and ready to handle the changing seasons and all the challenges the world can throw at them. You want to keep the farm in the family long after your retirement, cultivating a family farm that continues to pass down through the generations. In some cases, however, you may struggle to […]
Tag: farm life
“It’s not what you have when you leave this world behind you… it’s what you leave behind you when you go.” – Randy Travis The fresh morning air, the way that the grass always feels wet right before the sun comes up even when it’s not raining and the clean smell of harvest and happiness […]
Keeping a farm in the family through several generations takes good planning, excellent communication and more than a little bit of luck. Often succession planning is not considered early enough by either generation. Often, families “talk”, but not about the business of the farm and it’s future. Fathers do not know if their offspring are […]
Do you have a succession plan in place for your farm? Most businesses have succession plans in place to help ease the transition when the current leadership steps down, but we don’t often hear about farmers making succession plans, and as we know, farms are businesses. A succession plan is a plan identifying internal talent to […]
Family farms have been disappearing over the years, with the number of dairy farms dropping more than 90% since 1970. There are many benefits to having a family farm, which we will take a look at here. The Animals A love for animals is a key factor for many who become farmers. Having the patience to care […]
Multigenerational Farming offers the chance for a younger generation to reap what’s been sowed by their parents and grandparents. Although there are always new machines and techniques to make farming less labor intensive and more efficient, these new-fangled methods could also have unforeseen consequences. This article touches on two examples where the new generation of farmers […]
As farmers, we face daily struggles. Family farms looking to transition from one generation to the next, face even greater challenges. When the children of the family are young, it’s easy to put off future planning. When they enter the teenage years, their contribution is great and this is, quite possibly, the most productive time for […]
Since every farmer, and every farm, is unique, estate planning should fit the uniqueness of a situation. This is especially true when transitioning a farm to a new owner. One of the key elements of any transition is fairness – to the owner and the new owner. When the transition involves a direct family member, a common approach is to […]
Whether you have a long, multi-generational background in farming or are a newcomer to the business, successful farming consists of a multitude of components. Every farm and each farm family is different in their approach, focus, and goals. In spite of this, there are some new ideas as well as old principles that can help secure […]
