By Simon de Boer - September 18, 2015
In my previous commentary on farm succession planning I wrote about our own experience of transferring the family farm to the next generation. Even at the time of writing, but certainly in the weeks that followed, I have been considering another problem, which I know all too well; the fact that farm families often start thinking about or writing down a succession plan, but never bring it to a full conclusion. There are a host of reasons why this can happen. One reason may be because of a death in a family. I am quite sure that some of the readers or listeners have had this happen to them. My heart goes out to every one of you, as well as to everyone that is facing a very uncertain future.
Listen here:
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At the time I am writing this, it is four years ago to the day since my brother informed us that he had advanced stage cancer. This was the beginning of a very difficult time for all of us, but especially for his wife and their young family. When I write “all of us,” to this day I do not know who “all of us” are. The outpouring of support was incredible, and was an uplifting experience in otherwise very dark days. After the funeral the new normal begins. This includes many aspects of life.
You have to go through the grief. There is no other way, harsh as this may seem. How do you relate to your children that experienced the loss of the same person but in a different way? Feelings of guilt about spending more time on the business than with the children are common. Emotions are understandably hard to control, but it is no shame to cry, and tears can come very easily. Grief counselling was very helpful for us. We attended a two-month program held once a week where we talked about our loss. For us, our faith is important. Group counselling was made easier because everyone there believed in a higher being.
In my story I will fast forward to when I was asked to be part of a panel discussion entitled “Can Your Farm Deal with a Death in the Family?'' I was on the panel with a woman who lost her husband some years earlier. What were the take-home points for the day? There were many practical suggestions. If you have time to prepare, it is helpful to write down things like whether or not you have an Environmental Farm Plan or a Nutrient Management Plan. Where are the water mains? Is your fuel supply on automatic refill? What about signing authority on the cheques? Is there someone who can temporarily do certain tasks on the farm? Queen’s Bush Rural Ministries (http://www.farmersincrisis.ca/) have good resources and can give you financial advice. Maybe a local church or a neighbour can be of help. In times of crisis, we are lucky to have loving family and neighbours around us to help us through tough times.
There are many good reasons to have a solid succession plan in place for your farm. Seeing close hand the situation with my brother’s family reminds me all the more how important it is to have a detailed plan in place.
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Suzanne Armstrong is the Director of Research Manager of Board and Committee Services for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy. The CFFO Commentary is heard weekly on CFCO Chatham, CKNX Wingham, and UCB Canada radio stations in Chatham, Belleville, Bancroft, Brockville and Kingston. It is also archived on the CFFO website: www.christianfarmers.org. CFFO is supported by 4,000 family farmers across Ontario.
