Succession Planning

A good succession plan involves more than just transferring the ‘family assets’. You need to consider management and decision making as well as the asset transfer.

It is important to know the desires and expectations of all interested parties – starting with the current generation. How long do you want to be the key decision maker? How long do you want to continue active farming? How long to you want to continue living on the farm?

After a lifetime of hard work building the farm business, it is important that your ‘retirement’ is well catered for. This is likely to require additional housing, as well as a solid income which may be needed for many years.

Do you want, and are you prepared, to pass on the major decision making? This can be the hard part!! Maybe there is a process/plan involving gradual transfer e.g. Stock/Herd Manager for a period, progressing through to full control at some point.

Does the next generation know what you are thinking, and do you know what they are thinking? This needs to be considered early in the process, otherwise expectations may result in disappointment.

The nature of farming is such that it is often difficult to be ‘even’ when multiple siblings are involved in farm succession, but it must be fair. This requires open communication and consideration of all options. Having some capital invested outside the core farm business is often a big help.

A good succession plan will take time, and is unlikely to be simple. The earlier you start doing something, the better the chances of a successful outcome.

The ultimate test for a successful succession plan is that the family must continue to be comfortable around the same Christmas Table!!