Who's going to own the farm next?

Red Meat Profit Partnership chairman Malcolm Bailey. Photo/Supplied

The issue of farm ownership succession will again be the subject of a series of workshops in Hawke's Bay this year.

Organised by the Red Meat Profit Partnership (RMPP), the workshops were held for the first time last year, looking ahead to what it says is one of the pressing issues facing sheep and beef farmers with more than half of sheep and beef properties likely to change hands by the year 2030.

They'll be held in the Havelock North Function Centre on March 3, March 31 and March 5, and the Dannevirke Service and Citizens Club on March 10, April 7, and May 12.

RMPP chairman Malcolm Bailey says there is an opportunity to help farmers work through these issues and plan for positive outcomes.

"Many farmers have said they find it hard to know where to start the conversation because of the emotional attachment they have to their farms and the tensions of handling significant assets, often with competing family interests," he says.

"A key goal for RMPP is to help farmers through this process by providing information regarding succession options and ownership structures and sharing examples of successful outcomes."

Farmers will be provided with resources and advice to help them explore the range of options available to them as they look at transition and succession of farm business ownership.

Bailey says there's also the possibility the workshops will link people who are wanting to progress in the red meat sector with those who are wanting to exit.

"Some farmers have sons and daughters who are not interested in taking over the farm but grandchildren who might," he says.

"They want to retire but want to keep the farm in the hope that a family member will take it on.

"Leasing the land or taking on a share-farming partner who owns the stock are a couple of ways of achieving this," he says.