Practical Farmers of Iowa addresses farm transfer issue

Practical Farmers of Iowa addresses farm transfer issue

By Wendy Johnson |  Guest Columnist

Thank you for printing the article from the Iowan, “Handing down farms brings challenges, creativity” in Monday, July 25 edition. Farm transfer is a sensitive issue, and one that historically has been taboo to publically talk about. Many times, farmland has been in families for multiple generations, there is emotion built into the ownership, there are multiple heirs involved, and the work to plan can seem overwhelming. It is no wonder, that some farmland owners just want to say, “I’ll be gone and my kids will figure it out.” But doing nothing can cause more harm among family and the relationships therein. Allowing children to figure it out, often times turns to “battling” it out.

Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) is one farm organization bringing this issue to the forefront, in hopes, to get farm owners and their children to start thinking about the opportunities, challenges, and changes that can come about with farm transfer.

“Map of My Kingdom,” the play commissioned by PFI, is an informal way of bringing the issue to light and to help start the thinking process. The Farm Legacy Letter workshops are an exercise of putting thoughts to paper in a letterform from parent/farm owner to children. Many letters include memories of the farm, highlights, successes, failures and what is important to them. This letter can then be shared with children, an estate lawyer, farm tax accountant, insurance agent, etc. to help start the process of creating an estate plan.

Part of PFI’s mission is knowledge sharing, farmers teaching farmers. Thus, many PFI farm families are willing to share their farm business and farmland transfer stories. You can visit www.practicalfarmers. org and search Farm Transfer to read some of their stories. You can also read sample Farm Legacy Letters from a few of our members. There is a template that can help you write your own Farm Legacy Letter among other resources available.

Tom and Irene Frantzen from Alta Vista, Iowa have been willing to share their story of farm transfer publicly to help bring light to this complicated issue. Tom brings up the story “The Hedgehog and the Fox” in his discussions about generational transfer. “The fox boasts that he knows many things based on many experiences and the hedgehog knows one big thing. The fox looks at opportune moments to make the most money in the shortest amount of time without discussing the economic drivers, passions and talents of the team. The hedgehog has a unifying vision, which considers: What are you deeply passionate about? What can you be the best at? What drives your economic engine? A successful generational transfer — a great and lasting farm — will take the hedgehog approach. It will integrate the people’s passions, talents and economic drivers.” – Tom Frantzen

Wendy Johnson is a resident of Charles City, a farmer and a Practical Farmers of Iowa board member