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Succession strategy

Soon after they launched their transition plan in 2014, Country Guide interviewed Saskatchewan farmers Doyle Wiebe and Mark Thompson. Now in their eighth year, are they still as confident?
Guide Business, Succession strategy

Joint venturers

Joint ventures rarely get used in today’s farm succession plans. These two producers call that a major missed opportunity

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Reading Time: 11 minutes [UPDATED: Mar. 22, 2022] Doyle Wiebe expects to do a lot more golfing this summer than he did eight years ago, and he’s managing to find time for a lot of other activities too, like mentoring and consulting, that he much prefers over driving a tractor for hours at a time. In 2014, by contrast, […] Read more
“My parents are finding it very hard to hand over the business,” says Ryan Galbraith. “It’s like another kid to them.”
Guide Business, Succession strategy

Young, and (not) feeling stuck

You’ve gone back to the farm. You’re eager to make real decisions. You feel ready for it too, if only Mom and Dad would let you. 
So how do you convince them?

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Reading Time: 8 minutes We begin with a happy story. It was 3 a.m. and 18-year-old Ryan Galbraith was sitting in a seeder in a field in the middle of Western Australia when he realized all he wanted was to be a farmer. “It was one of those moments — you’re just out there enjoying it, you’re tired but […] Read more
When families understand their values around time and money, this becomes rewarding for all generations.
Guide Business, Succession strategy

The Succession Advantage: Planning for the finish line

It's important to plan early and engage with a professional team

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Reading Time: 3 minutes We wrap up The Succession Advantage with a final article about “The Finish Line.” At this point in the series, our succession plan is fairly well built. Along the way, we created family communication by aligning individual goals and visions; dove deep into farm financials and affordability; mapped the farm’s future through strategic business planning; […] Read more
When considering changes, farmers can think about new opportunities by using their financial statements to calculate a few ratios.
Guide Business, Succession strategy

How your farm’s numbers can help guide your dreams

Before jumping into transition planning, gather this information and have a conversation with your spouse

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Many years ago, I worked under the late Andy Sirski at Grainews. He taught me to explain out loud how something worked before I wrote about it, how to write an interesting headline, and the difference between wondering and thinking. “Wondering doesn’t get you anywhere,” he used to say. Invariably these tools helped me focus […] Read more
“Getting it equal is almost not doable,” says Larry Smith. “You have to try to find a value that people can agree on and go from there.”
Guide Business, Succession strategy

The Succession Advantage – Finding fairness during farm transition

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Our Succession Advantage series continues by examining advantages you can achieve during the transition process of succession planning. To date, we have covered the benefits of establishing proper communication for maintaining family harmony, clarifying the financial expectations to develop a sustainable plan, and dedicating time to strategic business planning. For the December issue of Country […] Read more
With husband Steve and four sons, Karen Sanders is clear: “First and foremost, we are a family. Secondly, a business family.”
Guide Business, Succession strategy

The Succession Advantage – Balancing growth and harvest

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Following along with our series, The Succession Advantage, we have covered the first two critical stages for family farm transition planning. The Communication Advantage comes from respectful conversation and results in aligned vision and agreed upon goals for the farm’s future. Financial Advantages become more tangible when starting succession planning early and include tax savings, […] Read more
It’s important that you and your spouse discuss the future of your farm, including how, and when, to bring your children into the conversation.
Guide Business, Succession strategy

Taking stock before your farm succession

Before jumping into transition planning, gather this information and have a conversation with your spouse

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Transition planning requires complicated professional tax and legal planning plus deep communication and strategic decision-making. It’s definitely not a do-it-yourself (DIY) project. However, there are some things you can do yourself ahead of transition planning to make it go more smoothly. They will save you time, money and headaches in the future.  Many of us […] Read more
Gaining clarity on what values align and on what “vision for success” means is critical when entering the financial side of transition.
Guide Business, Succession strategy

The Succession Advantage — Balancing the farm’s financials

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Welcome back to our series, The Succession Advantage. Last time we examined the importance of using the correct tools to improve your family’s communication — a critical step to position your farm for continuity. This article addresses a stickier side — the financial aspects of succession. There’s the difference between what the farm is worth […] Read more
Shane and Donna Mowat with their four children — Bobby (left), Bailey, Brittany and Bethany — at Bailey’s wedding last fall. All are looking forward to their futures in JockValley Farms, which means all need to participate in constructive communication about how to make it happen.
Guide Business, Succession strategy

The Succession Advantage – Finding your family’s advantage point

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Succession is more than passing the farm to the next generation. It’s about setting the farm up for ongoing success through a continual discovery process, examining every aspect of the farm and its operations, pulling out the very best, and incorporating them into best practices. It’s about having conversations with your family that get to […] Read more
“It’s Mom’s and Dad’s land,” says financial planner Colin Sabourin. “They should focus on themselves first, and on what they need.”
Guide Business, Succession strategy

Keep the farm or sell?

Mom and Dad want to retire. What’s the smart move? Should you keep the land for the family, or sell and invest?

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Reading Time: 4 minutes As farming parents prepare to retire, conflicting viewpoints can arise with their offspring over keeping the land or selling it. What’s the right way to go? Deciding whether to retain versus divesting the family farm may be the biggest decision that any farm family will ever have to undertake. There’s no right or wrong answer, […] Read more

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