Planning the Future of Your Farm: Connecting New Farmers with Farmland Owners (well, trying to) Andrew Branan, JD North Carolina Farm Transition Network, Inc.

Primary Question/Mission How can we connect a younger/newer generation of farmers with land and skills opportunities? (both “inside” and outside landowning families)

First sort of Principle Decisions made on the farm and are symbiotic with community decisions to support farming.

Suggested Definition – Farm Transfer Planning A process of decision-making that protects a farm’s agricultural productivity while preserving family relationships and enhancing community development. (don’t forget the D thing)

Relevance of Legal Tools: Manage Foreseeable Risk (the Five D’s) Disaster (bad weather, unwelcome creditors) Death (owner, principal operator, key employee) Disability (assets liquidated for care) Disagreements (between operators, family) Divorce (losing control of business interest)

Landowner Outreach Presentations of opportunity – Growers meetings, landowner meetings Keep the Farm – County-level meetings for landowners – VAD Board leadership – Annual updates in property taxes, conservation programs, timber, estate planning Succession Planning workshops

Voluntary Agricultural Districts (NC) State law enabled 75 Counties (out of 100) Landowners enroll land for certain benefits Staffed by Extension or Soil & Water Representatives from different districts of the county A combination of personal and outreach media (lists, direct neighbor connect)

County Annual Update What draws in farmers/landowners? (what questions do they have?) Property tax, timber, estate planning, resource (income) programs, leases (hunting, farming), present land management issues Introduce to new concepts in farming, local food systems, next generation farming, agreements

Community Meetings

Second sort of principle Keeping land in production across generations requires agreement across generations.

third sort of principle Farming and land ownership are separate businesses

three questions What do you want? What do you need? What do you have?

“Soft-issue” support that connects directly to legal decisions on farm transfer

Continual education campaign, starting in 2004 Highlighted need for decision-support resources, not merely risk/issue and outcome identification RME 3’s = thousands producers and landowners How legal tools are simply agreements to manage risk

Three pillars of transfer Division of Income Transfer of Management Transfer of Ownership And how do agreements manage these transfers

Contact Information Andrew Branan, JD Director, NCFTN P.O. Box 443 Hillsborough, NC