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oming off winter in Western Canada, we arrive at a time when farm families spend more time in meetings and communicating. As I meet with clients, I’m interested in seeing progress around succession planning. Unfortunately, it’s a lack thereof I also see. Ensuring a farm remains generational starts long before it is passed down. When the next generation takes over the farm from their parents, ideally planning is already in place for the next transfer. This allows for a long transitional time period to determine how the succession may or may not happen. Prioritizing that time window is a great opportunity to set everyone up for success. When I see families suffering through a farm succession process, it is almost always because expectations are not being met. Whether this disappointment lies within the child or the parent, there is no need for this. Those struggling through this process now can make it through. But let’s end that cycle here. If we raise our kids to expect everything for nothing, how can we be shocked when their adult decision making becomes skewed with this notion? If we raise our kids to be creative, entrepreneurial and independent, how can we be shocked when they push for the transition to happen sooner than we wished for? I do not believe the way we raise our kids has 100 per cent control over who they become, but it sure plays a role in it. If a farmer has three children while there is likely only enough
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farm business for one to take on, succession planning and discussions should be introduced at a young age. The family can begin discussions early around how things may look in the future and introduce all the important succession details, including the fair versus equal concept. As parents, we can begin to overview some options for our kids’ futures, including what it might look not to farm. We also cannot pressure our offspring by saying, “This farm has been in the family for 100 years, I sure hope I do not have to sell out because one of you does not want to farm.” Regardless of their age, that is a tough message with potential for harm. I feel privileged in working with a wide range of clients to support them through succession, nearly all of them the benefactor of a succession. One commonality I see in my clients is a lack of desire to repeat the type of succession plan they had from their parents. For farmers over the age of 40, it’s likely their transition was abrupt and happened early in life, often with minimal communication and at times even as early as at age 18. I have worked with clients, now 45-to-55-years old, who were making key decisions on their parents’ farm at the age of 16. These same producers now have kids aged 18 and older with nowhere near that same responsibility placed upon them. Unfortunately, I’m seeing farms today taking a more cautious approach to their succession and waiting longer to fully engage that next generation. What is driving this lag? We’d like to think the
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