News

Handing Down the Farm

Handing off a farm to the next generation may seem like a straightforward process. However, today that transition can be complicated, requiring farm families to answer tough questions about retirement, health care, estate planning, business structure, personal family and farm goals, and so on. Many programs try to cover the breadth of these issues in only a few hours, but Extension agents in the Shenandoah Valley have pioneered multi-session workshops that give farm families a comprehensive look at farm transition.

“The objective of farm transition is to determine how to pass a farm operation to the next generation in a way that meets the goals and desires of all parties involved,” says Gordon Groover, farm management Extension specialist. “We ask, ‘Is the farm currently profitable? And if not, what is needed to make it profitable? What are the alternatives?’”

Profitability is one of a variety of topics that agriculture and natural resources Extension agents Bill Whittle of Page County and Tom Stanley of Augusta County had in mind when they developed the curriculum for their area and the surrounding region. Whittle explains that open communication across generations is another big issue.

“Farmers tend to be taciturn, but during this process they need to communicate more than ever,” Whittle says. “They have to be willing to talk as a family about their future goals for the farm.”

The needs of the current generation, such as health care and retirement, are front and center. Although Whittle says some farmers want to “die in the saddle or on the tractor,” others wish to retire or at least reduce the number of hours they spend working on the farm.

“We pose questions that all farmers need to address, such as whether the farm business can continue to generate income for one generation to retire, provide for the next generation, and remain a viable business,” Groover says.

The desires of the future generation also enter the equation. “Some farmers assume their son wants to take over the family farm, but maybe their daughter has an interest in farming and a desire to continue the family legacy,” says Whittle, who adds that he recently met an aunt and uncle who decided to pass the family farm to their nephew.

Regardless of whom the family decides will take the reins, Whittle encourages all of the participants to develop a farm transition plan that has flexibility in the event of unforeseen circumstances or changing goals. “At the end of the sessions, families have the tools to complete a transition management plan to guide them through the years,” he explains. “This plan must be reasonably fluid because life changes.”

Approximately 92 farm families, with more than 200 individuals, had participated in this program through March. Agents plan to continue the program in the future as the current generation of farmers, many of whom are already in their sixties, continues to age.

“We know there is going to be a major transition of farms, both big and small, in the next 15 to 20 years,” Groover says.