New video! Farmers share their successes and challenges with a farm transfer

Farm transfers can be complicated. Good support and the right team of advisors can help make a plan successful. It’s never too early or too late to start planning for a successful farm transfer—one that honors the farms’ legacy and creates opportunities for the future of the farm. 

Each farm and each family are different. A farm successor could be a family or non-family member. Many farmers do not know who their successor will be – will they transfer the operation but keep the land or end the business and pass the remaining assets to a new operator. Farm succession involves a lot of moving parts. Each plan and process will be unique.

“The farm transfer process is just that, it’s a process which can be made easier with a plan. With sound succession planning that includes concrete action steps, it is more likely that the goals and desires of all the generations involved can be met, and there is a greater likelihood that the farm will stay in farming.”

Mike Ghia, Vermont Field Agent, Land For Good

Hear directly from farmers 

Senior generation and junior generation farmers, who have recently gone through a farm transfer or succession, took time to share their successes and challenges with us. They talk about the issues that arise in a farm transfer to a next generation or when there is no one in the family to take over the farm.

Hear from two different farms and their journeys through a family ownership transition from the perspectives of a senior generation and a junior generation. Another farmer shares a story of an intentional long-term transition that took more than 10 years to complete. And a young farmer shares his inspiring growth and progression from a farm employee in his teens, to an eventual partner in the business, to now farm owner. Common themes from these farmers’ stories emphasize that planning is important, open communication can benefit all parties, and understanding and embracing that a farm transfer or succession is an emotional journey.

These farmers recounted their stories at our Farm Succession Planning webinar series. Over the years we found that peer-to-peer sharing helps other farmers who are going through the process, so we compiled some of their successes, challenges, and advice in this farmer panel video.