HARLAN, Iowa (KMTV) —
- Farm families have a lot of issues to navigate when it comes to generational transitions. Many want to keep farms in the family, but they also want to be fair to their heirs who are not farming.
- The Take Root program with the Iowa Farm Bureau helps farm families with estate planning, communication and transferring the family operation to the next generation of farmers.
- Video shows... farm families arriving at a community center in Harlan, chatting, getting dinner in a conference room. File images of farming operations.
- Learn more: iowafarmbureau.com/Take-Root
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A little over 10 years ago, the Iowa Farm Bureau developed a program to help farm families pass their operations on to the next generation. I'm Katrina Markel, your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter in Harlan. I’m here to learn more about the Take Root workshops and how families can develop a farm succession plan.
Navigating generational transitions and inheritance for a family farm is … complicated. Amanda Van Steenwyk manages business education programs for the farm bureau, including Take Root.
Van Steenwyk: “There’s a lot of emotional things that happen in a farm succession plan and, that older generation, that senior generation, really holds their cards close and we try to encourage the importance of – not only having a conversation about it so that the farm stays in place – but also the family stays in place.”
Mike Fara operates the Shelby County farm his parents started more than 50 years ago. He has three kids. One farms with him.
Fara: “It’s kind of rewarding, to be able to work with him and think that he wants to continue farming in the future. But it’s difficult because it takes so much capital and it’s hard to get started when you’re young.”
He wants to be fair to all three kids.
“Fair,” says Van Steenwyk, isn’t always the same as “equal” when it comes to estate planning. Sometimes the heir taking over the farming business has been working the farm for decades.
Van Steenwyk: “They’ve put a lot of work into that farm and to have to divide it equally with heirs that haven’t done…any work on the farm is not necessarily fair. So, having that conversation about what that looks like is important for many families.”
Family communication, she says, is key. When it gets tough, bring in help.
Van Steenwyk: “There are mediators that you can bring into your team, and help have that conversation.”
To get started with take root visit the Iowa Farm Bureau website.
