Building a long-term farm succession plan for a farm is one of the most important and complex steps in ensuring the operation continues successfully across generations. It’s about much more than who “gets” the farm — it’s about who manages, owns, and benefits from it in a sustainable way.  Halderman Farm Management manages dozens of multi-generational farms with long histories of ownership by the same family.  How do those families successfully pull that off when others seem to struggle?

Here’s a step-by-step framework used by top farm management and estate planning professionals:

🌱 1. Clarify Your Goals and Values for the Farm

Start by defining what success looks like for your family and the farm.

• Personal goals: What do you want your farm legacy to be? Do you want to keep the farm in the family, ensure income for heirs, or prioritize business efficiency?
• Family goals: What does the next generation want? Are they interested in ownership, management, or just financial returns? Do you need the capital for alternative goals or can you invest more capital to improve the farm?
• Business goals: Should the farm expand, diversify, or transition to professional management?

📝 Tip: Write down a “farm mission and legacy statement” to guide all decisions.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 2. Identify and Prepare Successors

Determine who is capable and willing to take over leadership or ownership today and into the future 5, 10 and 15 years.

• Identify potential successors (family members or non-family managers).
• Identify the professionals who can assist (CPA’s, Attorneys and Professional Farm Managers such as Halderman)
• Assess your successor’s skills, experience, and interest levels.
• Develop a training or mentorship plan — gradually involve them in operations, finances, and decision-making.
• Set milestones (e.g., lead one enterprise by age 30, take over full management by 40).

💰 3. Separate Ownership, Management, and Income

These are distinct roles that often get mixed together:

• Ownership: Who legally owns the land, farm equipment, and entities?
• Management: Who makes day-to-day decisions?
• Income/benefits: Who receives farm profits or rent?

Use structures that allow flexibility:

• LLCs or partnerships to hold assets.
• Operating agreements to define roles and include buy-sell terms.
• Lease agreements if one child farms and others do not.

📑 4. Develop a Legal and Financial Framework

Work with professionals to formalize your plan:

• Estate attorney: Draft wills, trusts, and transfer-on-death deeds.
• CPA/tax advisor: Minimize estate and capital gains taxes.
• Farm management advisor (Halderman): Maintain operational continuity.

Common tools:

• Family LLCs or limited partnerships to control ownership transitions.
• Buy-sell agreements to manage ownership changes.
• Life insurance to equalize inheritance among non-farming heirs.
• Gifting strategies to transfer assets gradually.

🧮 5. Plan the Financial Transition

Create a realistic financial model for how the next generation will take over:

• Establish a valuation method for farmland, equipment, and business entities.
• Decide how successors will finance their buy-in (loans, gradual equity transfer, rent-to-own, etc.).
• Plan for retirement income for the senior generation (e.g., land rent, profit share, or consulting fees).

🗣 6. Communicate and Document Everything

Lack of communication destroys more succession plans than bad economics.

• Hold family and/or farm entity meetings at least annually.
• Involve all heirs — even those not farming — to prevent resentment.
• Put every agreement in writing and review regularly.

🔄 7. Review and Update Regularly

Succession planning is not a one-time event.

• Revisit every 3–5 years or after major life changes (death, marriage, divorce, expansion).
• Keep the plan flexible — weather, markets, and family interests change over time.

Halderman Farm Management makes it a point to meet at least annually with every client to discuss their goals for the farm, capital improvement projects, family transitions and succession and financial needs. This allows our farm owners to communicate their desires with us and then Halderman can stay up to date and manage the farm to their expectations. If you want help, choose someone with local knowledge combined with the “world” view of developing trends and issues that impact your farm.   Please reach out to us at 800-424-2324 or www.halderman.com to explore what might be interesting to you.