Farm planning for your family

The rising price of agricultural land has made succession planning more important than ever, and for some families, the issue is more complex.

Agriculture business consultant Paul Blackshaw said the rise in farm values had increased interest in the family farm, and in some cases from family members who once weren’t interested in the business but now see the increasing value in farm assets.

“Dividing the farm so that everyone gets what they need is becoming increasingly challenging,” Mr Blackshaw, from Meridian Agriculture said.

“Even when families have planned well and invested off-farm or in shares to provide for non-farming members of the family, these assets haven’t increased in value as much as the farm.”

The webinar workshop series address the issues involved in a succession plan and take participants through the steps to develop a plan.

“Communication is really important,” Mr Blackshaw said. “The task here is to keep everyone talking for the best chance of resolving the issues so everyone can live with the decision.”

“At one end of the spectrum is to give everything to the farming children and nothing to everyone else, and at the other is to split everything evenly. Families need to find where they sit on this spectrum.”

The workshop series is free and available for 20 people.

Session one: Tuesday May 3, 7pm to 8pm Reality check: Is there enough farm to share between everyone?

Session two: Tuesday May 10, 7pm to 8pm How do we know what each individual wants and how is this achieved?

Session three: Tuesday May 17, 7pm to 8pm Matching business capacity with family requirements. Do you sell all or some of the farm?

Registration is restricted to 20 people. A free one-on-one session with Meridian Ag is also available to those who attend at least two webinars. Register online at Eventbrite.