It wasn t cheap. It
wasn t easy. But they
believed they could
do it and with help
they did. Now the
Gilmers share their
story of hammering
out a succession plan
and the good it is
doing them, their
family and their farm
Only one-third of family-owned businesses
survive the transition to the next generation.
Then, out of that third, only one-third
survives into the third generation, which
works out to just one ninth of the original
group. And on, and on.
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By any reckoning, the odds should have
been against Ontario s Gilmer family at
South Mountain, an hour south of Ottawa.
On parts of their land, the family has been
farming for six generations.
But statistics weren t their only problem,
or even their largest. As on so many
farms, there seemed to be extra complications
at every turn.
When brothers Reg and Richard officially
took over the family farm it had been much
easier. Their father had incorporated the
farm in 1981 for tax purposes, to access a
small business development grant and to
pass it on, and their path was more or less
clear. Things are different now.
For a start, today s Gilmer Farms is
far more complex. There are 160 milking
cows, for instance, plus quota, some
expensive barns and almost 800
acres of productive, high-price eastern
Ontario land adding up to a pile of corporate
assets.
Then there are the potential clashes of
career ambitions, retirement plans and farm
visions that bubble up any time you try to bring
different individuals, different families and
different generations together around something
that everyone has so much riding on.
In the Gilmer s case, specifically, the
two original owners wanted to exit, but
at different times. Plus, a cousin wanted
to join, one potential successor wasn t
completely sure he wanted to farm, and there
are several other siblings, all adding up to a
potential stalemate or, worse, a quagmire.
The fact that it ended with an agreement
that s drawing praise from all the families
says a lot about the family. It also says a lot
about the approach that they followed.
Here, the Gilmers talk to us about what
their process looked like from the inside,
sharing their story with COUNTRY GUIDE so
other farmers will know that succession can
happen without ripping apart a family, and that
it can actually make your business stronger.
