Keep the Family Farming: Tips and Resources

What to provide land for your heirs to farm? Here are some top tips from your fellow farmland owners:

• Decide which is more important: Treating all heirs financially equally or keeping your farming heir on the land
• Consider valuing the “sweat equity” that the farming heir has provided
• Use non-farm assets to compensate non-farming heirs

The late William Gilbert (right) valued the “sweat equity” of his farming son, which helped keep another generation of Gilberts on the farm

Here are some top resources where you can get good information to help you with your goal to keep your family farming:

• Beginning Farmer Center offers a class for helping to bring another generation back to the farm.
• Transferring the Farm Series includes an article on valuing the “sweat equity” of the farming heir.
• How to examine what is fair when you have farming and non-farming heirs.
• A step-by-step guide that will walk you through all the aspects of planning for the future of your farm.
• Program to help women address succession, business, estate and retirement planning.
• Farm succession planning workshops, factsheets on probate, buy-sell agreements.
• Evaluating your estate plan, including estate planning terms, retirement planning, gift taxes, federal estate taxes.
• Federal financing for those farming 10 years or less.
• Farmland owners discuss how to treat on-farm heirs fairly.
•  Videos of farm families tackling succession issues.
• Learn more about the Lynch Family helping son build equity.