Taking the first step toward succession planning can be the most difficult. Paul Lanoue farms near Marshall, Minnesota and has worked to help families plan farm transitions. “We say ‘we need to do this someday but first we need to feed cows.’ The reality is that the farm will transition some way shape or form.” Said Lanoue, pointing out that there are ways to make that transition smoother when looking at management transitions and asset transitions holistically. Minnesota has a lot of resources to aid in planning for the next person to continue farming. Lanoue suggests agcentric.org or visiting the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s website.
