I can still recall hearing, “Hello, Americans. This is Paul Harvey. Stand by for news,” coming from my old childhood farmhouse during the lunch hour. My father would be drinking coffee and my mother was over the stove, both quietly listening to every word that came out of that AM radio. Years later, the iconic broadcaster’s compelling voice froze me in my tracks, as I heard his famous “So God Made a Farmer” speech during a Super Bowl Sunday commercial. Those words clung to every farmer’s heart. To have a son or daughter follow in your footsteps is the highest compliment.
But one thing stumped me. As much as farmers want their child to come back to the operation, few sit down and openly talk about the process to make that happen. Instead, that much-needed conversation is put off for another day.
What Ifs
I get it. It’s so much easier to talk about milk production, genetics, feed costs and labor issues than pause to talk about the really hard conversation about succession planning. But consider the “what if” scenarios. What if dad has a stroke? What if our son’s new marriage ends in a divorce eight years down the road? What if after farming with your brother for 30 years you decide you no longer want to farm? What happens to the farm then? Yes, those are hard conversations, but you know what’s even harder? Selling the family farm at auction.
It took my parents losing their only son in an automobile accident in 1995 to establish a living will. While they didn’t have anyone to take over the family farm, they still talked about the what ifs. What if dad had a stroke. What if mom dies first? What happens to the farm then? My sisters and I are extremely blessed our parents were brave enough to have those worrisome conversations with themselves, first and foremost, but also with their children. When those what ifs became our realities years later, we didn’t have to think while undergoing heartache.
Beat the Statistics
Sadly, statistics paint a different picture. According to AARP, two out of five Americans over the age of 45 don’t have a will. The Small Business Administration reports less than a third of family-owned businesses survive the transition from first to second generation, and it dwindles to even fewer going from second to third generation.
Beat that statistic. Gather around a table and bring in a team of experts to start the uncomfortable conversation about how the family farm will be passed on. Nobody really knows when God is going to call them home. Live like you’ll die tomorrow — and plan for it, too.
