The DeJong family operate a diverse agriculture business an hour east of Toronto at Baltimore, Ont., and the farming brothers, Rod and Chris, have their own farming ventures — Knollcrest Poultry and Knollcrest Swine respectively — which they operate alongside their wives Nancy and Amy.
Despite being focused on their individual farms, the brothers also work together on a significant cropping operation that, to be successful, requires consistent collaboration between all family members.
Keeping an operation such as this viable for future generations requires open communication among all parties, which is a belief shared by their next generation of farm owners — Kyle and Trevor DeJong.
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“Balancing priorities can be difficult … our individual farms have their own time requirements through the peak seasons,” says Trevor. “The hogs and turkeys have different levels of time commitments throughout the year, and it can be tough to manage when our individual commitments overlap with an increased workload on the cash cropping venture in spring and fall.”
Awareness around the individual needs of each side of the family is key when looking into the future for the DeJongs. “We know things are working well with the farm at its current size, but what happens if one of us wants to expand our own farm? How do we account for this change on our partnered operation?” said Trevor.
These are the types of questions families need to bring to the surface so they can be addressed in their planning. They can then discuss and co-create options for the right structure that will allow for independence and flexibility in their future plans as they move forward together.
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Understanding this balance on the farm between the status quo and future growth is essential, and this family is making great strides in ensuring their farm transition can flow smoothly. The first bold move they are making is tackling their succession head on and bringing the next generation into planning discussions early.
As part of this, Kyle and Trevor are being brought up to speed on all aspects of their family farming initiatives so that they can have a clear understanding of how succession will have an impact on the future vision of the farm. This allows them to align their own goals and expectations.
Part of this transparency involves ensuring the successors understand the journey the farm has taken to get to its current standing.
For the DeJong family, they are beginning the process of helping the next generation to understand why and how they have made decisions to balance business “harvest and growth” in the past and set expectations for both generations’ needs for the future.
“We’ve seen lots of people taking advantage of lower interest rates over the past few years to expand their land base and upgrade their equipment” says Kyle. “We’ve held back a little and I feel it’s worked well for us. I’d like to take the same approach into succession and make sure whatever the final pathway looks like, it remains financially viable for everyone, especially our parents.”
These are wise words as we often see the new generation of farmers looking to make their mark on the family farm by quickly implementing new ideas aimed towards growth and expansion.
In addition to the communication and business planning needed to maintain the balance on the farms, it is also integral for the farm to implement strong risk management practices in a system that heavily relies on a small group of individuals to remain successful.
It is important to address the risks. What should happen if one of those stakeholders is forced to reduce their role on the farm or is no longer able to work? Many farm businesses protect their farm from operational risks such as crop failure or property risks to buildings and equipment, but a much smaller portion protect themselves against personal risks such as injury, illness or death.
When building a strong succession plan or business plan for the farm, it is important to address this in order to ensure the longevity of the farming operation.
Even as young farmers, the DeJongs are aware that each other’s well-being is important to their overall success. “Trevor and I are looking to continue our family’s legacy together, but what happens if one of us is no longer able to farm? If one side of the equation was to collapse it would be very tough for one of us to maintain the operation on our own,” says Kyle.
The fact that the elder DeJongs are actively involving the next generation in their planning efforts and having open communication around difficult topics helps set the family up for further success. The bigger mistake in farm succession comes from not addressing the “what-ifs” and leaving the farm open to risk. Being bold and having purposeful conversations around the future of the farm leads to peace of mind for both entering and exiting generations, minimizing surprises, and keeping outcomes achievable.
