Farm Succession planning is essential to the process of passing a farm on to the next generation as smoothly and successfully as possible. Today, it can be difficult for children of farmers to take over the family farm. Farm equity is often the default retirement plan for farmers, so they need the money they have invested in it, and can't simply give it to the next generation. And financing for the next generation wishing to buy the farm can be difficult in this era of high land values, and tight credit markets - not to mention the difficulty of beginning to make payments on a loan before ever bringing in a crop. In cases where there are multiple siblings, equitable distribution of inheritable assets can be an issue. Understanding rules related to taxes, land transfers, incorporation, etc. can be extremely important. And there are numerous interpersonal and values issues that often need to be dealt with in succession arrangements.
At First Citizens, we know it is important to you to keep the farm in the family, so we've provided some resources to get you started.
Succession Planning Resources
- How to be Fair with Off Farm Heirs
- Ten Rules of Transition Management
- Consider the Family Issues
- What to Think About Before Joining Your Family's Farm
- Discovering Expectations Quiz
- Constructing a Farm Succession Plan: Elements to Consider
- Identifying What is Important - Older Generation
- Identifying What is Important - Younger Generation
At our 5th annual Ag forum, guest speaker, Ron Hanson, spoke to the crowd about the importance of farm succession planning. Hanson, a retired Agribusiness Professor from the University of Nebraska, has 40 years' experience counseling farm families, and helping them resolve issues involved with family farm succession and the transfer of management control between farming generations. View his thoughts on the topic.