ROCHESTER, Minn. — Are you starting to plan the transition of your farm to the next generation and don’t know where to start? The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) will hold a Farm Transition Planning Workshop series this winter at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1727 Walden Lane SW, in Rochester. The workshop will be held on Saturdays–January 14, February 11 and March 11–from 9:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The three full day sessions build on one another so attendance at all three is recommended. The cost for the workshop series is $150 per family (sliding scale fee based on need). To register and for more information, contact LSP’s Karen Stettler at 507-523-3366 or stettler@landstewardshipproject.org.
If you are a farmer or landowner thinking about the future legacy and next steps for your farm and land, this workshop offers an opportunity for both reflective thinking and active planning. Participants in this workshop will have an opportunity to plan their next steps, focus in on goals, and assess the future financial picture. Other area farmers will talk about their experiences planning and implementing a farm transition plan. Attorneys, CPAs, financial planners and healthcare personnel will give presentations on key elements to consider when putting together a transition plan.
Ted Fisher, a farmer and participant in the 2016 LSP Farm Transition Workshop, said the class taught him that farm transition is really about life transition.
“In the longer view it is our lives that come and go, the farm stays,” he said. “We will leave it one day–we know that for sure. We hope to see someone else love it as much as we do. Living to see this happen in some form is, to me, the central issue of farm transition.”
This workshop series is made possible in part due to generous funding from the USDA Risk Management Agency and Organic Valley.
— Land Stewardship Project
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