“Farm succession is a journey, not an event.” That’s the key message farm succession expert Len Davies has for farm families in the final episode of Agricultural Management Institute’s (AMI) new five-part video series. In the earlier episodes, four farm families shared their personal insights on what made their farm succession plans work. In the final episode,… Read More

“Farm succession can get heated,” says Thamesville, Ont., farmer Dennis Jack. “But you have to get on with life and deal with it or you will destroy your own life worrying about.” In this episode of the Agricultural Management Institute’s (AMI) new farm succession video series, Jack talks about his family’s succession struggles and how reaching… Read More

Many farmers consider the farm to be their retirement nest egg. Of course the farm will play a significant role in funding retirement, but relying solely on farm assets can create challenges when it comes to farm succession. “You can run into trouble if you put all your eggs in one basket,” says farm succession… Read More

When should you start succession planning? The earlier the better, says farm succession expert Len Davies. In the second episode of the Agricultural Management Institute’s (AMI) new farm succession video series, Davies takes us to the Veenstra family farm near Port Colborne, Ontario. Here we meet Andy Veenstra who shares succession tips and strategies he used… Read More

What are the key steps that farm families need to consider when developing a farm succession plan? It’s a looming question for many farm families right now. To help in the process, the Agricultural Management Institute (AMI)  has produced a new farm succession video series, viewed from the kitchen tables of Ontario farm families as… Read More

Tuesday nights are pretty important on Twitter if you’re involved in agriculture. Tuesday nights are #AgChat nights — a few hours of moderated conversation on a particular topic of interest for farmers, industry and anyone else interested in agriculture. Last night’s topic was farm business management. Farmers and aspiring farmers alike weighed in on questions… Read More

If you were given the choice between playing the game or sitting down together to come up with the rules of the game which would you pick? Here we see the inherent problem with the family business and the dilemma of succession planning. Unfortunately, we can play the game for years before we run into… Read More

Old MacDonald had a farm but apparently it is more common than expected.  Along with Old Man Smith, and Old Joe there are many seniors still farming in Canada.  With only 8.2% of the operators being younger than 35, the farmer pool over the age of 55 dwarfs its younger counterparts. Many times the lack… Read More

The best and the most valuable advice comes from people who have actually been in the situation that they’re giving advice about. So when a topic as touchy and as potentially difficult as succession comes up, you need that “first hand experience” type of advice. Lee Markert brought that advice to producers when he spoke… Read More

When it comes to succession planning, one of the most difficult things to do may be just getting the conversation started. No other topic can get defences up, arouse suspicions or cause divisions like the topic of succession if it’s not handled correctly.  Having a pure business discussion with your parents or kids easily crosses the family… Read More

Over the past couple of days, I have been reading and seeing a bunch of different articles in relation to keeping young farmers on the farm and attracting first generation farmers. My question? Why is it any different than any other entrepreneurial business. I’m sure that there are tens of thousands of people across Canada… Read More

Christie Young is the Executive Director of FarmSmart and this week she has created some stir within the Canadian Agriculture industry by saying that our industry is not prepared for the coming mass farmer retirements.  What has really caused the stir is her statement that the government has some sort of responsibility to ensure we prepare… Read More

The Succession Saga – Part Four By Dick Haney, Haney Farms We heard this weekend how yet another of our brave soldiers in Afghanistan had perished in the line of duty. This is never happy news and it is most unhappy at Christmas time and all of our thoughts and prayers go out to this… Read More

 

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