Tag Archives family farm

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General

Seven things to remember when preparing for a farm transition

Where is it written that your parents have to go south for the winter together? Many aging farmers like to visit the Sun Belt at this time of year to get rest, connect with friends and have some well-deserved fun. But what if one of your parents prefers to stay home? When both spouses cannot[...]
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From left, Jennifer and Jay Bruggencate, and Mike and Kelly Sulzle.
Guide Business, Management

Dream team

In Vector Grain, the Bruggencates and Sulzles are collaborating on a joint venture to make their longtime farming dreams a reality. It takes dedication and smarts, and loads of professional advice. But it’s paying off

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Reading Time: 8 minutes Mike Sulzle had worked as Craig Shaw’s hired man for 16 years when Shaw approached him in 2015 with surprising news: 2016 would be his last year farming. “Craig had always said I could take over when he quit farming one day, but it wasn’t serious,” says Sulzle. “I didn’t see how I could do[...]
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Farmer and Financial Advisor
Guide Business, Succession strategy

Better steps for farm transition

Canadian agriculture is suffering a shortage of family farm advisers with the training and skills to help our farms through succession and transition

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Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s expected that three in four Canadian farms will change hands in the next 10 years, many of them from one generation of the family to the next. But where will these farms find help they can trust to navigate their increasingly complex transitions? There aren’t enough trained and experienced farm advisers to go around[...]
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A professional approach to agriculture pays off
Guide Business, Management

A professional approach to agriculture pays off

Continuous improvement is important in today’s farming community

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Reading Time: 5 minutes We all know we are speaking to (and about) a different generation in today’s farming community. It’s a group that is rapidly growing in education, in financial knowledge and in their eagerness to do more, do it better and leave their legacy in the ag world. The idea at the centre of all of it[...]
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The next generation of famers is ready to lead and show their skills using technologies that create opportunities for improvement.
Guide Business, Guide HR

A farmer’s appetite for learning

Continuous improvement: The next generation of farmers is ready to lead

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Today’s farmers are confident. They are finding their voices and they are finally becoming viewed as the powerhouses they are. Farmers are hungry to learn and they are also hungry to educate others. They are educating politicians, society and industry on the strength of their operations and on the economic contributions they make. Today’s farmers[...]
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"When the successor has climbed partway up the ladder, they get hung up on the higher rungs for a long time,” finds the U.K.’s Matt Lobley
Guide Business, Succession strategy

The ‘succession effect’

Setting transition as a goal for your farm can spur growth and profitability, until about three-quarters of the way through

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Reading Time: 5 minutes All farmers, no matter where they farm in the world, share certain characteristics. They are all born worriers, and they all have lots to worry about — weather, crop prices, markets. And on top of the day-to-day production issues, and the management challenges involved in running today’s complex farm operations, farmers also have a lot[...]
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Get over it
Guide Business, Management

Get over it

When succession talks start, it doesn’t take long for Dad to think everyone just wants to cut him down to size

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Reading Time: 7 minutes It’s impossible to think about the transition of any business — and perhaps more so the family farm — without talking about the governance structure that is going to allow that farm business to operate, thrive and be sustainable for generations to follow. It’s easy to find. Just look for the fireworks. “The flashpoints usually[...]
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Parents at some point need to transition from shareholder to creditor,” says Merle Good. That’s a big step, because creditors don’t make the farm’s decisions.
Guide Business, Management

Who controls the purse strings on your farm?

By the time the parents hit their mid-60s, financial decision-making should be in the hands of the next generation. Really!

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Two decades ago, U.K. professor Andrew Errington identified three stages of farm transfer: succession, retirement and inheritance. He defined succession as the gradual handing over of managerial control. Retirement was the owner withdrawing from active participation in the business of the farm, and inheritance was how the assets were finally signed over to the successor.[...]
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The Badiou family is well into the process of transitioning the family farm to the next generation.
Guide Business, Succession strategy

Impressing Mom and Dad

There’s more reason than ever for farm kids to prove to Mom and Dad that they’ve got what it takes to be trusted with the farm. Question is: do the kids realize it?

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Reading Time: 10 minutes Transitioning the family farm to the next generation is never easy. But how much harder when the parents have their doubts whether their next generation has the skills or the personality to manage the operation? On more and more farms, the wise thing would be for the kids to set out to prove to Mom[...]
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Seven rules of behaviour for family farm teams
General

Seven rules of behaviour for family farm teams

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When the next generation comes home, Elaine Froese says families can set up some rules of engagement right away so everyone knows and can operate within that culture. When new people join the team, it can help to clarify expectations. “Culture is the invisible glue that holds the farm and the family together. It is[...]
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