FARMFINANCE By Monty Smith Succession success Planning for your farm’s future requires a willingness to share information with family I n the next few years, Canada will experience a tidal wave of farm transfers. If you are looking to transfer your farm to a son or daughter, you will need to do some preplanning. Succession for any family business is complex, let alone your farm business, where life and farm duties are intertwined. The first step to determine if farm succession is right for your family is to ask yourself these questions: • Is the business viable? • Can it support two families? • When and how will I transfer ownership? • Do I have sufficient retirement income? • Where will I live? • How will off-farm children be compensated? • Can our family work together during the transition period? • Who will make farm management decisions? If you are struggling with answering these questions, consider selling the farm to a third party. If that is not an option, you may want to consider other succession arrangements. But before sitting down with your family to hash out the details of a plan, consider hiring a mediator to help manage family meetings. Doing so will help create an environment where Realizing that preparing your farm for succession is a process that occurs over time, can help you cope with the transition. 20 | March 2009 | MilkPRODUCER
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milk Producer - March 2009