For more than two decades, the ag business advisors at Water Street Solutions have been helping farmers improve their farming operations through financial services, strategic planning, and risk management. Water Street Solutions also assists farmers with the process of legacy planning to help ensure family farms transition smoothly to the next generation.

2.  For more than two decades, the ag business advisors at
Water Street Solutions have been helping farmers improve
their farming operations through financial services,
strategic planning, and risk management. Water Street
Solutions also assists farmers with the process of legacy
planning to help ensure family farms transition smoothly to
the next generation.

In a recent Farm Futures blog post, the firm’s president and
CEO, Darren Frye, explained the importance of cross-
training and long-term planning on farms with an
approaching leadership transition. Frye references an
example of a father and son who have assumed distinct
roles on the farm, with the son in control of production-
related tasks and the father in complete control of the
farm’s business matters.

3.  On this farm, the father independently handles the
finances and meets with financial planners alone. Without
any information on the farm’s financial situation, the son
begins to question the operation’s financial security and its
future as his father’s retirement approaches.

Frye states that these situations require a thorough
discussion of the family’s goals for the future of the farm,
the steps necessary to realize those goals, and ways to
measure the operation’s success. To prepare for a change
in leadership, Frye notes that future leaders should focus
on developing leaders from the next generation, to foster
a comprehensive understanding of a farm’s operations.
For more information on legacy planning and preparing
 for leadership transitions, please visit www.waterstreet.org.