As your children age, they may stick around and continue to help around the farm. They may marry, bringing another person in to help with the load. It can be hard for families to work together day-after-day without having conflicts.
Here are some tips to help everyone work together on the family farm.
Make sure that the farming operation can support everyone as well as it needs to. If two of the children want to farm, is the farm big enough for three families? If not, what are you going to do about it? Is someone (or more than one person) going to work part or full-time elsewhere? Can you grow the business enough to support everyone? Financial problems can really hurt families.
Too much time together is not always best so be sure that everyone has time to do their own thing. It is not healthy to spend too much time together. If you work together on the farm all day and then spend time together in the evenings, it can get to be too much. Make sure that you attend gatherings without everyone in your family. Get involved in church activities. Have friends outside of the farming community. Get out and enjoy life!
For this reason, it is also important to live in multiple houses. Each family should have their own home. This is necessary to give each other some space, as well as let your children grow up a little bit. Once children are involved, it is even more important to have your own home.
Though some farms have more than one home, it might be better if yours does not. Your children may want to buy a small home nearby so it is convenient to help around. Even better, your children may be able to buy a farm down the road, which can help add to the current acreage to be farmed.
Parents and children have worked side-by-side on family farms for years. However, it is not always easy. It takes compromise and good communication, as well as the chance to get some time apart.
Contact us for more tips on running the family farm.
