Transition Planning
Better Businesses - Stronger Legacies
What’s the most difficult part of farming? Equipment malfunctions? Weather events? Injury or illness?
The truth is that in many families, transition planning is the biggest challenge of all.
For some, discussing the farm changing hands is taboo. In others, merely broaching the subject incites conflict. Still others find that they just never get around to those talks they need to have.
Protecting Your Legacy
Transition planning is absolutely essential if a family wants to keep the farm in the family. At Encore, we provide assistance including planning, respectful communication, family dynamics and more.
Our goal is to help set up the next generation for success while still respecting the elder generation’s preferences. It’s about finding a balance—and that’s where we excel.
Viewing a farm as a business helps remove some of the sentimentality and sharpens the focus on the nuts and bolts of the transition process. We help through:
- Clarifying roles
- Facilitating effective communication
- Resolving conflict
- Navigating the complexities of shared assets
- Next generation leadership development
- Establishing goals, values, guidelines, governance and accountability
- Creating timelines
- Coordinating advisors such as CPA’s and attorneys
Our goal is to help you create and execute a succession plan. And we’re only finished when your family has passed on your farm and feels proud of your accomplishments.
Are you ready to begin?
Insights Succession Planning
How to Handle Emotional Conversations
Four steps to mediate and solve emotional disputes in your family business Originally published at Farm Futures on 3.10.2022. A couple of weeks ago, Liz and I gave a presentation hosted by PDPWs Dairy Signal. It was a live-streamed conversation with farmers, and the topic was How to Get Your Communication Unstuck. We took questions from the audience, and one question stuck out. We hear a version of the question often, so if you have it, you are not alone. The question dealt with how to deal with the emotions that sometimes come up in tough conversations. Below is the question plus a couple of tips to help you if you ever find yourself having an emotionally charged conversation. Question: What do you do when someone has already jumped off the...
How to get the work done AND Keep Peace in the Family
Clarifying Who does What can make a big difference Originally published at https://www.dairyherd.com/news/labor/clarify-roles-dont-step-toes on 3/7/2022. One way or another, the work always gets done. We know that. But how the work gets done and who is in charge of the work is a much more complicated question. I recently gave a presentation to a group of dairy farmers when one raised his hand. "How do we get the work done AND keep the peace on our family farm?" After a follow-up question, he said his family was going through a transition from one generation to the next and who was in charge of what was getting murky. Frustrations were building because everyone was stepping on everyone else's toes. I believe it was unintentional, but it was starting to wear on...
What do transition planning and CRP burns have in common?
Successful transition planning takes a plan If you don't want a raging grass fire, you have to plan. To get a controlled fire that burns the CRP grassland without making the local newspaper, takes planning and preparation. I learned the hard way that tossing a match without planning doesn't end well. The same goes for transition planning. Transition planning is a bit like a pasture burn. It can either be effective and routine or really exciting and out of control. When transition planning is out of control, bad things happen, and people get hurt. Relationships and bridges get burnt. My first grass burn was a disaster. It wasn't that I was reckless; it's just that I didn't know how and didn't understand the power of large grass fire. Unmanaged conflict during a transition plan looks like...
Investing in the next generation
Just like any investment, the earlier you start the more it has time to grow and develop. You invest in your business; you invest in your retirement, and you invest in your connections with loved ones. Have you considered investing in the future leadership of your farm? John thought he had everything covered. He didn't question his succession plan; he was fortunate to have two sons come back to the dairy. Everyone worked well together, and it was just assumed it would easily be passed on. Unfortunately, John passed away unexpectedly before his anticipated retirement date. His sons were not prepared to fully "take over" the operation, nor did they agree on who would be in charge of what. Arguments ensued. Employees quit. Big decisions were left unanswered. John did...
The conversations families must have if they want to keep the farm together
When it comes to Transition Planning, communication is the foundation. This was the case with my friend Bob. He was so delighted when both his son and daughter decided to come back to the family farm. In addition, their spouses also chose to join the operation. For the first year, it was smooth sailing. Together the family made plans to expand the dairy operation. Then, in a blink of an eye, things went south. No one agreed on the methods, operational protocols, or roles. There were even disagreements about the culture and farm values. Bob was discouraged; he assumed they would all be in constant agreement since his children were raised on the farm. He did not believe there would be any conflict among family members, the same people who...
Communication, the missing ingredient in Transition Planning
When it comes to Transition Planning, communication is the foundation. The transition plan had all but stopped, and unspoken issues were piling up. Both the employees and the next generation were frustrated. Everyone involved was frustrated, including the advisors and spouses. To be fair, this is a top-notch farm with really great people. Many good things are happening on this farm, so it's not like there are many major problems. But they do have a bunch of little ones that no one was talking about. We have been surveying owners and employees on various topics for several years as part of our Executive Farmer Network peer group events and transition planning projects. Communication is always a top item that everyone believes needs addressing. It isn't just owners that believe this....
When to Let Go of an Employee
Knowing when to let go is crucial to maintaining a solid team Blake, a large dairy producer from the Midwest, was fit to be tied. Unfortunately, for the last four months, Dennis has not been the stellar employee he used to be. He was often late, never finished the job, argued with the management, and had the gall to continuously ask for more money. Blake reached out because of his frustration. "Employees are hard to find, yet this one is driving me nuts." He was apprehensive that if he let him go, he would not be able to find anyone to replace him. As we talked further, it became evident that Dennis was also bringing down employee morale by stirring the pot amongst team members. It was a bad situation...
Communication, the missing ingredient for success
Okay. Maybe communication isn't completely missing. But in the recipe for success, the ingredient called "COMMUNICATION" is needed in a larger quantity. Most farms are at a size when everything from long-term strategies to daily activities need communicating. So, it's no surprise that communication is key for farms that want to grow or transition to a new generation We should be great at communication by now. Never before have we been more connected to each other via social media, texting, video calls, and even telephone. So why do farm owners and employees alike consistently list communication as the one thing that needs improvement? Because being a good communicator is not always easy. Managing large-scale farms is hard. Finding and keeping employees is hard. Working with family is hard. Growing...