Succession Planning
Formulating your farm’s succession plan is likely not a straight line. Polly Dobbs, an Indiana attorney who is part of a seven-generation farm family, says it’s important to stay focused on your end goals.
The clock is ticking — and the current estate-tax exemption is set to plummet at the end of 2025. The smaller exemption coupled with inflation and land values likely means increased assets and estate-tax rates.
The conversation about how the farming business is going to be transitioned from an established generation to the next generation is a conversation these families cannot afford to put off for another day.
Farm attorney Matt Folz shares the pros and cons of creating a charitable remainder trust.
Use the topics and tools included in The DIRTT Project to jump-start the succession planning process for your operation whether you are just beginning or need to get on track.
This month’s Rural Mainstreet Index marks the fifth-straight month where the index has been below the growth neutral mark.
Rena Striegel’s workshop at the upcoming Top Producer Summit will leave attendees with four main takeaways.
Farmers have struggled with the same business and family problem essentially forever: what happens to the farm when parents die. The conflict between fairness and equality has never been truly resolved.
Jim Douglas and his son, James, are navigating the joys and hurdles of succession planning.
It’s time. You need to finally make your farm’s succession plan a priority. As you take a first or second or 20th step in the process, shoot to avoid some common landmines.
Open communication and succession planning help farm families maintain profits and healthy personal relationships.
Here’s how you can avoid committing these harmony-harming mistakes.
You’ve heard the horror stories. The ones about farm families who spend months in court fighting over assets. The result? A destroyed business and fractured family. Why does this situation play out over and over?
As you look at transitioning leadership and ownership of your farm to the next generation, be ready to tackle entitlement issues.
Matt and Lisa Moreland hoped at least one of their sons would return home to farm after college. What they didn’t anticipate? All three sons wanted to come back. Here are four things the family learned in the process.
Ron Rabou spent the first 26 years of his life expecting to return to his family ranch. When his dad passed and it came time to transition the farm, negotiations weren’t as easy as he imagined. Here’s what he learned.
More than 50% of farmers intend to grow their operation, based on responses in Purdue’s February 2023 Ag Economy Barometer. If you’re thinking about scaling your farm, it’s important to first ask these questions.
Family businesses are often complex and making the decision to join the family farm is no different. Here’s a list of questions the next generation should consider about the family business.
We are more than the hours we work and the services we provide. We are people, friends, family, and community. You are important, you are loved, and you are worthy of conversation, caring, and love.
Preparing a succession plan can be an intimidating, lengthy and complex process. Here are some important factors to consider when building your succession strategy.
Of all the change Steve Malakowsky has witnessed in the past 25 years, the most important has been next-gen producers making their mark. He offers three things to consider before transitioning to the next generation.
The Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation has wrapped up Haul Out Hunger, with Iowa Select Farms employees delivering 60,000 pounds of fresh, boneless pork loins to 120 rural food pantries.
The Proposed Transfer Tax can actually eliminate net equity for many farm families and cause their heirs to be underwater. It can be much worse than the current or proposed estate tax for most farmers.
With possible increases in estate and gift taxes looming, the use of an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT) may be appropriate to use in 2021.
What makes a good family farm transition? It is difficult to achieve a good farm transition without at least doing well in each of these C’s.
Even if upcoming tax reform eliminates the federal estate tax, many states will continue to keep an estate tax as part of their tax regime.
Last week John dove into a major misconception about estate planning. This week, he shares some misperceptions between heirs on and off the farm.
Up to $12.06 million can be passed to your loved ones upon death, exempt from federal estate tax. While living, you can also gift $16,000 annually to as many individuals as you’d like. Of course, some exceptions apply.
Succession planning is difficult and time-consuming, but it is also a key step for a business that can grow into the future. Regardless of where you are in the process, you can always take another step.