Workshops Focus on Planning for Your Farm’s Future

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Farm transition experts from The Ohio State University are offering workshops at several locations statewide to provide farm families with the tools and information needed to successfully pass on the farm business to the next generation.

Members of Ohio State University Extension’s Farm Transition Team will hold two-day workshops for farm families to learn what is needed to plan for the transition of their business to the next generation, said David Marrison, an OSU Extension educator. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

The workshop will help farmers assess the future of the farm business, discuss developing the next generation of managers, communicate about farm succession and review retirement planning, he said.

“The workshop will also help farmers learn how to plan for the unexpected, consider long-term healthcare costs, understand legal considerations of farm transition and discover ways to increase family communication,” Marrison said. “It takes a lot of hard work, time and communication to make a successful management transfer.”

Workshop topics include:

• Family communication in the farm transition process.
• Providing income for multiple generations.
• Farm succession with multiple offspring and family members: Fair vs. equal.
• Retirement strategies.
• Strategies for getting farm and family financial affairs in order.
• Long-term health care issues and costs.
• Farm business structures and their role in estate and transition planning.
• Estate and transfer strategies.
• Trusts and life insurance.
• Tax implications of estate and transition planning.

The workshops will be taught by the OSU Extension Farm Transition team in conjunction with Ohio-based Wright & Moore Law Company, Marrison said.

“This workshop will challenge farm families to actively plan for the future of the farm business,” he said. “In between sessions, farm families will be asked to hold critical family conversations to help identify planning areas that will need work to accomplish a successful farm business transition.”

The workshops are:

• Feb. 18 and 25 at the OSU Extension office in Defiance County, 6879 Evansport Road, Suite B, in Defiance. Registration is $60 per person or $100 for two or more people from the same farm business. The deadline to register is Feb. 4. A registration form can be found at defiance.osu.edu/events/farm-business-transition-workshop. For more information, call 419-782-4771.
• March 1 and 15 at the Champaign County Community Center Auditorium, 512 South U.S. Highway 68 in Urbana. Registration is $35 per person or $60 per couple. The deadline to register is Feb. 23. A registration form can be found at go.osu.edu/agevents. For more information, call 937-484-1526.
• March 22 and 29 at the Pickaway County Community Foundation, 770 N. Court St. in Circleville. Registration is $35 per person or $60 per couple. The deadline to register is March 11. A registration form can be found at go.osu.edu/farmtransition. For more information, call 740-474-7534.
• April 6 and 13 at the Sandusky County Job and Family Services building, 2511 Countryside Drive in Fremont. Registration is $60 for the first person and $40 for each family member from same operation thereafter. The deadline to register is March 15. A registration form can be found at sandusky.osu.edu/. For more information, call 419-334-6340.

For more information on the workshop series, contact Marrison at marrison.2@osu.edu or 440-576-9008, ext. 106.