National Farm Viability Conference

When it comes to farm transitions, collaboration is positively affecting Midwestern farm families.  How do collaborations happen?  What is necessary to keep the collaboration going and healthy? Attendees of this panel discussion will hear from different Minnesota organizations using a variety of approaches to assist in the transition and estate planning process, and are invited to come prepared to interact and ask critical questions.  

Learning Objectives:
-Understanding of farm transition in the context of Minnesota's rural economy and landscape
-Gathering of ideas for how inter- and intra-organizational collaborations can improve access to and quality of farm transition resources to farm family
-Comparing and contrasting different approaches to farm succession

This workshop is an opportunity for those with limited business planning experience to learn about how to support farm succession planning. This introductory session will provide an overview of the transfer planning process while highlighting key concepts – such as feasibility, timeline, and transactional consideration – as well as common mistakes. While farm business planning can be complex and challenging, this workshop will provide the framework, resources, and encouragement for those hoping to engage in this rewarding work.

Learning Objectives:
-Understand the basic steps in the farm succession process.
-Understand common challenges that planners face and how to address them.
-Recommend resources and further learning opportunities.

*Workshop Change* | Unfortunately, due to travel challenges, Stephanie is no longer able to attend this workshop. In her place, Holly Rippon-Butler will share a bit about Stephanie's work with the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust and lead a roundtable discussion about wealth, power, and land. We will discuss who controls the land and what it means, followed by conversation about land access and transition strategies (both programmatic and policy-based) that organizations are implementing around the country to address this challenge. Bring your examples and questions. Stephanie will be at the conference tomorrow (Wednesday) and we are finding other ways to share the content of her presentation. Stay tuned!

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Original description:

This session focuses on the direct correlation between wealth redistribution, increased access to land, and healing justice for Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color (BIPOC). Through the intersecting lenses of decolonization, physiology, anti-oppression, and economics, we will share models of land access that restore harmony, reconfigure power, and reconnect the mycelial network of BIPOC land stewards to their purpose. This session will briefly illuminate the effects of colonization on the body, mind, and spirit, followed by explorations of 5 land access models employed to rebalance power and heal relationships. We will make space for small group discussion; the processing of challenges and barriers; and collective inquiry. By uplifting grass-roots models for land access currently changing the landscape of wealth redistribution, participants will walk away with knowledge of accessible, action-oriented solutions.

Land access models presented at national conferences don’t always apply directly to our particular circumstances at home. A large farm in Vermont is not the same as a large farm in Iowa. Threats to farming range from industrial waste to housing development to dicamba drift, depending on the region of the country. Population density and history determine more than most models consider. People of color, new Americans and the working poor face layers of challenges. Even the definition of “farm” can be radically different. This session provides case studies from a wide variety of organizations adapting different models to help farmers gain access to land. The Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, Renewing the Countryside and the Latino Economic Development Center will tell their stories of adopting a model and then adapting it to their circumstances.

Learning Objectives:
-What factors should be considered when adopting a land access model?
-Learn tips and tricks for adapting a model
-Gain the ability to recognize the dramatic differences in farming and land access challenges across the country.

This session will examine three different aspects of working with farmers and ranchers on succession and transition planning: 1) the legal framework for succession and transition planning, 2) a succession and transition self-assessment tool, and 3) on-the-ground perspectives from a practitioner.
Legal framework: We will open the session with an overview of the farm succession process from a legal perspective and provide guidance on how to assist farm or ranch business owners in preparing to meet with their attorney. We will provide an overview of some commonly used legal tools in succession planning so you can help familiarize your clients with them to ensure that the legal part of the succession planning process is efficient and productive.
Self-Assessment Tool: The second part of the session will focus on a self-assessment tool you can use for one on one work in in small groups. The self assessment tool is designed to help existing farm or ranch business owners evaluate their need for structures and procedures to ensure their business can continue during either a short term absence or permanent departure of the primary operator. This tool also sets the existing business owners up to ask the right questions of their legal and financial advisers. We will walk through the high-level purpose of each of the parts of the seven-part tool discussing how you could use the tool to help your client set goals and plan next steps to make their business resilient and ready for short or long term change of management.
Practitioner's Lessons Learned: The third part of the session will examine the experiences of a practitioner in working one on one with farm and ranch families and the evolution of her methodology away from a one-on-one model and towards a group/cohort model.

Ensuring good communication across generations matters whether you’re buying, selling, leasing, or expanding a farm business. Being able to articulate your vision can be challenging. This workshop will answer the question, "What types of skills does a farmer need to describe their farm vision in a clear, compelling way, no matter who they are interacting with?"

Learning Objectives:
-Gain a better understanding of farmer typology & learning stages
-Learn about typical characteristics of generations and their preferred communication styles. -
-Practice effective communication with a partner using "I" statements, the ladder of inference, and active listening skills.

This introductory land access session is a unique opportunity for agricultural service providers to learn how to use American Farmland Trust’s Land Access Trainer (LAT) Curriculum, which provides a skills-based educational approach to help beginning farmers and ranchers tackle the complex and multi-faceted process of finding and securing suitable land to start or expand their operations. This session will provide an introduction to land access and the importance of engaging educational approaches to effectively support beginning farmers and ranchers. Led by certified AFT land access trainers, it will be highly interactive with participants directly engaging in a comprehensive land access decision making process through a hands-on business and personal goals activity and follow-up discussion on how to apply these strategies in their own work and programming.

Even the best farmers can come up against hurdles to a smooth farm business transfer. In this advanced level workshop, we will address some common issues a service provider may encounter when trying to help a farm business transition from one generation to another. Presenters will touch on topics including assessing and developing capacity of potential successors, business valuation, and how to address non-farming heirs. This will all be discussed within the context of the financial, legal and tax implications of these complex transitions. Participants are encouraged to come with case situations they are working through and general questions as well as resources and tools which they find useful.

Every farmer hopes to own their own property. But high startup costs, and sky high land prices in certain parts of the country, often complicates the ability to purchase property before starting a farming business. Join us for a tool sharing round table exploring pathways to land ownership and creative land tenure, The National Young Farmer Coalition’s Land Affordability Calculator, and Conservation easements and how they work.