Succession: Rural families urged to consider plans for who takes over the farm

The average age of farmers is 58, and they are being urged to think about the future. Photo / RNZ: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes

By Sally Murphy of RNZ

Farmers are being told they need to have open and honest conversations with their families about the issue of succession.

Succession planning is the process of transferring farm assets, knowledge, and skills to the next generation - however, there is not always someone who wants to take on the farm.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand has teamed up with Brett Robinson from Rural Coach to put on succession workshops around the country.

Robinson said succession has always been an issue and won’t go away.

“The average age of farmers is 58 and the next generation is coming through and where land values are now - compared to where they were 15-20 years ago for the last generation - that’s a huge obstacle, so we need to start thinking harder and smarter about how we’re going to get this next generation through.

“You can only do that by having open and honest conversations but you’d be surprised about how many families are not chatting around the kitchen table.”

Robinson’s consulting business has worked with more than 500 families on their succession planning journey.

He said when it was obvious there was no one who wanted to take over the farm, it was a pretty clear-cut decision to sell.

“It’s more complicated when there is the next generation who is willing - but the family hasn’t talked through the logistics.

“They often don’t know where to start, our motto is to change ‘I think’ to ‘I know’, do you know what your kids want?”

Relationships within the family are really important and the farmer passing over the farm and the new owner need to have clear lines of expectations and clear lines of communication about what’s going to happen, he said.

“The father, son relationship is a big one, if they can’t agree on what crop to plant in a paddock things can get messy quickly, so it’s about setting clear expectations and boundaries.

“There have been talks where I’ve had to use a ‘talking pen’ so someone can get their point across while everyone else just has to listen.”

Robinson said it was also surprising how many parents had not shared the books with their children, which made it hard to decide whether to take over a business.

The next succession workshops are in Kaikohe and Whangarei this week.

- RNZ