Workshop helps farmers plan how to transfer ownership

WATERVILLE – The most important thing to do when planning for farm retirement or farm transfer to the next generation is to sit down and talk, experts told dozens of farmers gathered this week for a seminar.

A grandson’s vision for the future of the farm may not necessarily mesh or be easily accepted by his grandfather who has worked the land for 60 years. How do you bridge that gap? the farmers asked.

“Talk,” suggested David Gott, a Farm Family consultant and social worker out of Massachusetts. “Talk about how to carry on the traditions that have already been established.”

Gott, one of several experts on hand to discuss farm succession, said farmers usually have a clear understanding of how to accumulate assets, but have a shaky understanding of how to transfer them.

“Have regular farm meetings,” he said. “Don’t wait for a crisis.”

Susie O’Keefe of Maine FarmLink, a land protection program, added, “When parents start making decisions about the future of the farm, the kids will start speaking up. The children may not be telling you they have an agenda, but I can assure you, they do.”

Gott said a major challenge is determining the value of the farm. “We have farms that aren’t going to make it to the next generation as a full-time business. Do you really want to pass on to the seventh generation of a farm a farm that’s not generating enough income to pay the taxes?”

It was standing room only at the event, “Transferring the Farm,” which was funded through a grant from the Northeast Center for Risk Management Education and sponsored by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Similar seminars have been held in Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire.

More than four dozen farmers and family members attended, learning from other farmers, extension specialists, lawyers and land trust personnel about how to navigate the farm transfer process.

As each farmer explained their reason for being there, the stories were similar: “I have 100 acres on Knox Ridge and I’m getting older”; “I have no one to leave my farm to”; “I want to turn the operation over to my son”; “I’m here to get a head start on the process.”

What concerned the farmers as much as the legal intricacies was what methods could be used to protect the land from future development.

Richard Knight owns Christmas Ridge in Falmouth, which sells Christmas trees, wood and blueberries. Knight said he has had numerous inquiries to sell his land for house lots.

“But I want it to remain a farm,” he said. How do you ensure that future generations don’t succumb to the real pressures of big money being offered by developers for former farmland? he asked.

Planning is the key, Gary Anderson of Maine’s Cooperative Extension said. “This is the toughest part,” Anderson said. “To not find common ground here could derail all future plans.”

Each farmer was presented with a planning packet that included worksheets for each multigenerational family member to rank what they feel is important for the farm. The sheets then can be used to launch a family discussion about farm transfer.

Bob Parsons of the University of Vermont told the farmers that without a plan, the state may decide the distribution of their property and the government will be provided with the greatest tax revenues.

“You can retire comfortably and save the farm,” he said.