Generational Transition Program

My Sweat, Your Equity

When physical jobs become a burden, ranchers may look to add the next generation to the operation.  Their enthusiastic energy is welcomed and needed to keep the ranch up and running. 

However, are these young folks being compensated for “their sweat” when it is “your equity”?

Do you think the homeowners flipping houses would invest their time and labor for free into someone else’s home?  No, I think not.  Why do we expect our returning ranchers to invest their labor for free (or almost free) on the ranch? 

Family-First Business or Business-First Family, Which are You?

Jolene Brown, family business consultant, says there are two kinds of family farms.  The family-first business and the business-first family.  Below is a summary of Brown’s articles on the two types.

Family-First Business: Bases decisions on emotions or what family members want to.  Majority of the times, these decisions leads to problems, first within the family, then in the business.

Business-First Family: Decisions are grounded upon a mutual mission, written goals, legal documents, and quality communication.  Family is honored and the business has the family’s best interest at heart.

“Remember when we put the business first because we care about the family.  If we do the business well, we are more productive and more profitable and everyone more happy,” states Brown.

FREE LEGAL & FINANCIAL CLINICS IN AUGUST

Farmers and Ranchers: Locations for August's free legal and financial clinics are here!  The clinics are one-on-one meetings with an Ag Law Attorney and an Ag Financial counselor.

These are not group sessions, and they are confidential.  The attorney and financial advisor specialize in legal and financial issues related to farming and ranching, including financial and business planning, transition planning, farm loan programs, debtor/creditor law, debt structure and cash flow, agricultural disaster programs, and other relevant matters.  To sign up for a clinic or for more information, call the Rural Response Hotline at 1-800-464-0258.

New Location for Generational Transition Workshop (and Grazing Conference) in Kearney!

As a result of the recent flooding in Kearney, the location of the Nebraska Grazing Conference and the NGLC Generational Transition Workshop has moved to the Buffalo County Fairgrounds.

The NGLC Generational Transition Workshop will be held Tuesday evening, August 13^th, from 6-9 pm CT during the Nebraska Grazing Conference.  The workshop will be held at the Extension Office (1400 E. 34^th Street, Kearney, NE), just across from the Exhibition Building where the Grazing Conference will be held. 

The workshop will include a producer panel and experienced estate and transition attorney, Pamela Olsen.

Practice the “Young Shuffle”

Progression, not to be confused with perfection, is simply defined as “moving forward or onward,” or better yet, “happening or developing gradually or in stages; proceeding step by step.”

And I wondered, “How many of us stop (or never start) working on ranch transition because the plan lacks perfection?”

When I think of ranch transition, I prefer the definition of progression, where planning and transition is developed gradually in stages.  Step by step.  Broken down into manageable bits and pieces.

I think of the “Young Shuffle.”

Cliff Young, a retired potato farmer, unexpectedly won the 1983 Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon at age 61.