A REASON TO COME HOME

UNITAH BASIN’S VINCENT FAMILY WORKS TOGETHER TO ENSURE LONGEVITY OF FAMILY BUSINESSES

by Stevie Ipsen for the Utah Cattlemen’s Association

The decision to stay at home to keep the family ranch going from one generation to the next isn’t as appealing for some folks as it once was. Generations ago, the decision to keep the ranch moving on down the line wasn’t really a question. But today, some parents and children may question what the future of their family farm or ranche looks like. For parents, generally the consensus is that they just want their children to do something they enjoy. Those same parents are frequently concerned that input costs, taxes, regulations and legislation might all lead to the belief that their children are better off doing something else.

For Uintah Basin rancher Randy Vincent, those are questions he and his wife Tamara have asked themselves. “It gets harder and harder to make a living in the cattle business, but having the kids here makes it worth it,” Randy says. “Having our own kids home helping on the ranch is the greatest thing on earth. Having the grandkids here is even better.”

For the Vincents and their children Randan and Alissa Sue Wilkins, both of whom live and work on their diversified farming and ranching operation RV Bar Angus in Jensen with their own spouses and children, the question was never if it was something their kids wanted to do, it was more a question if they would be able to.

“Providing for two to three families with one cattle outfit in today’s world is tough,” Randy said. “If it weren’t for us having other businesses and outside jobs, it probably wouldn’t work.”

For the Vincent family, having everyone at home and playing a role on the ranch, meant some of them would have to have jobs off the ranch.

Alissa Sue, who always had plans to stay close to her agriculture roots, said she sought a cosmetology license following high school because it was something she enjoyed but she knew she would have flexibility to work and to put her skills to use at home while having flexibility to continue her passion with horses and help her family on the ranch. Similarly, her husband Jake Wilkins currently sells agriculture insurance, and also has the flexibility to be on the ranch or at the family trucking business to help out. Community involvement is something else that all members of the family work around. From water boards to local electric municipalities, someone is always gone to a meeting and the others work around that to ensure all the ranch needs are met.

“Everyone has to pitch in to get it all done,” Tamara said. “We all understand that and are willing to step up to make sure it all comes together.”

Randan, who works in the family trucking business and is a summertime watermaster, is able to use those pursuits to stay close to the ranch and be available for his wife Katherine and their three children.

“Randan’s jobs go hand-in-hand with our goals here,” said Randy. “He has the ability to be here when we need him and his duties off the ranch are flexible enough to allow him to help our in the other businesses as well.”

“From health care to routine expenses, having jobs off the ranch has been beneficial for our family,” Alissa Sue said. “But the option we have to be here at home and still be part of the family business pays us in ways that no 9-5 job can.”

Alissa Sue and her husband Jake say their three children have gained work experience that will serve them well no matter what career field they decide to enter.

“Seeing our kids take to this lifestyle is something I hoped for but the level of passion is something I couldn’t have anticipated,” Alissa Sue said. “I joke about it but our oldest son, Waylon, is 15 but he acts 25 and virtually, there isn’t anything on the ranch he couldn’t do if he had to.”

Randy and Tamara admit they are inevitably getting older, but say peace of mind comes from knowing that someone else knows the family business as well as they do. Randan and Jake have both taken on lead roles to help the family produce bulls for their annual bull sale.

Like the popular saying goes, many hands make light work. Even though few ranch tasks are “easy,” having reliable, invested help is priceless. Besides regular cattle ranch activities like feeding and calving, a purebred operation has to fit in syncing heats, A.I. breeding, preg checking, registrations, catalog production, customer service, semen testing, marketing and more. There are more than enough jobs to go around and that is why having good help is crucial. Randy says big scale beef production wasn’t part of Jake’s upbringing but through his work ethic and his desire to learn has proven him a team player in the ranch.

“I have a stong belief that the majority of farm and ranchraised kids have farm greater odds at thriving in life, no matter what field they set out to work in,” Randy said. “I’m grateful that our children have that vision as well and are making it a priority to teach their kids to work, whether it’s here on the ranch, in the livestock show ring or even in the horse or sports arena.”

When it comes to having kids who want to come home to the family ranch, Tamara stresses the importance of giving them some say in the future. So often parents are stubborn in the way they think things need to be done, but Tamara and Randy have come to recognize that their way might not always be the best way and if the next generation helps develop the plan now, their own future on the ranch becomes more likely. But she stesses that if the kids were forced to do it on their own now she has all the confidence in the world they would successfully make it happen.

“They might not do it exactly like we would,” Tamara laughs, “But they are totally and completely capablity of working together to keep it as successful as it is today.”

For other families like themselves, talks about the future are not always fun to have, but Randy and Tamara know they are essential.

“No matter how secure you think the future is, conversations have to happen,” Tamara says. She shared that their family has witnessed situations where other families never had those hard discussions about the future of the ranch and either the ranch wasn’t big enough to support everyone who wanted to be there or some family members only considered what was best for themselves and as a result the family operation wasn’t able to stay intact.

“Sometimes working with family can be harder than working with un-related co-workers,” Alissa Sue joked. “Because we care about each other and we are so passionate about the ranch, it can be easy to let emotions get involved. But it is better to work with people who care and have similar goals than to work with people who don’t care about the longterm success of your program.”

“Our kids get along about as well as any two siblings could,” said Tamara. “I know they and their spouses are on the same page when it comes to the future because they care about each other and care about the family business.”

Tamara says it was always a goal of Randy’s to create family businesses that Randan and Alissa Sue would want to be part of. In fact in 2018, after seeing the grandkids show such interest in the ranch, they actually expanded by buying some mountain ground that would allow their operation to grow in the future if the grandkids wanted to pursue the same way of life.

Tamara says she and Randy have tried to stress to their

...CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 kids and grandkids that their dreams don’t have to be the same as their grandparents’. But if that is something they want to do, Randy and Tamara will do whatever they can to make them a part of the future of the family operations.

“I think it goes without saying that most farmers and ranchers would want their kids to enjoy the family business but that may not be reasonable for everyone,” Tamara said. “If our kids and grandkids do something that makes them happy, obviously we’re happy. If what makes them happy is returning to the ranch, that would be an honor and is something that would make us proud. It would mean what we did here as a family influenced their upbringing in a way that they might want to raise their own family that way as well.”

How to Plan for the Future

Successful succession planning begins with goal setting and knowing what each member of the family sees their roles being down the road. For the Vincent Family, having roles clearly defined has helped conversations about the future to go more smoothly. They also understand the need to be flexible in order to meet the demands of the business. Open communication and respect is paramount. With Randan and Jake and the growing grandkids being willing to step up as needed, setting a road map for the future of their program is made more simple. But for some families, discussions about the future might not be as easy. Succession planning is not a one-size-fits-all experience. For some it is a walk in the park but for many it is tedious, cumbersome and emotional.

According to the Utah State University Extension Service, in 2016, 80 percent of all owner-operated land nationwide was owned by individuals who were 55 years or older This statistic, coupled with the reported average age of producers in Utah being 58.7 years old, explains why Utah farm and ranch producers have listed succession planning as one of the most important programmatic needs from USU Extension.

In response to this gap, USU Extension developed and modified educational tools and training that allowed producers to create their own individual succession plans pertaining to business, retirement, transition and estate planning at a pace that is comfortable to them. The workbook tool, when completed, also offers significant financial savings to the farm or ranch producer.

In response to the demonstrated need for a Farm and Ranch Succession Program, USU Extension developed a team consisting of a Beef Extension Specialist, Farm Management Specialist, and two County-level Extension faculty. The combined skillset of the team and their existing relationship with producers contribute to the program’s effectiveness. The USU Extension Farm and Ranch Succession Program officially began in December of 2019.

Participants attending the extension training were a mix of both owners (older generation who controls farm and ranch assets) and successors (potential heirs to the farm and ranch). Ages of participants ranged from 24 to 74 years old. A total of 30 participants from five counties attended trainings, with 60 percent being owners, and 40 percent being successors. These participants were the target audience for the program.

Participants completed face-to-face interactive sessions spanning three days for an average of three hours per day. Initial trainings were held in Box Elder, Cache and Rich Counties.

Evaluation results represent workshops completed in three counties. After completing the training, 100 percent of participants strongly agreed succession planning is important, 87 pecent strongly agreed that they know the value of developing a vision for their farm and ranch legacy, 90 percent strongly agreed that developing the next generation farmers/ranchers is extremely important, and 73 percent strongly agreed that they know what information is needed to meet with a professional to create a farm succession plan.

As a result of the workshop, 100 percent of participants stated that they intend to start a conversation with their family about succession planning, 86 percent plan to form a vision for the future of the family farm/ranch, 79 percent intend to gather information/documents that are needed for succession, 83 percent were already visiting or intend to visit with a professional about their succession plan, and 90 percent of participants intended to use the workbook to begin their succession plan.

Producers attending the Farm and Ranch Succession Program held over 60,000 acres of agricultural land. To date, 19 Farm/Ranch Families have participated with approximately $200 million in agricultural assets.

The Farm and Ranch Succession Program workshops have gained momentum and are now being planned for replication across the State. It is projected that the program will be presented in at least three new counties each year and repeated, because of expressed need and popularity, in counties that have already participated.

While this is a good start to ensure the longevity of family ranches in Utah, the fact remains that the majority of Utah farmers and ranchers do not have a plan for the future of their family operations. If you are one of the families that wishes you had a plan in place, there is assistance available.

As always, it is helpful to consult with trusted specialists, preferably those who are familiar with your farm’s backstory and financial history. These might include CPAs, financial consultants, lenders and/or extension agents specializing in succession and estate planning. To learn more from Utah State University Extension on how you can be prepared to pass your family beef operation to the next generation, contact USU Beef Extension Specialist Matthew Garcia at matthew.garcia@usu.edu.