Farm Law and Ag Law Blog

     Traditional Method of Farm Succession Planning Broken…. Here is How to Fix it. Part IV-A Few LLCs Can Lead to Fairness. (Authors’ Note :   This will be a several part series discussing why the current method of farm estate and succession planning is not working)  This is part 4 of a 5-part series regarding the authors’ view that farm estate planning in this country is broken and needs fixed, especially in light of “Farm Estate Armageddon” which will happen this decade when ¼ of all farmers retire and 2/3 of all farmers will be over the age of 65.   Past articles can be viewed at www.farmlegacy.blogspot.com .               We’re going to pick up from where we left off in April discussing how to reach “fair” in establishing a farm succession plan.   If you recall, we discussed in detail that farming is generally an asset heavy industry, but light (or in some years none or even negative) on the yearly return from those assets.   We also discussed the fact that whatever asse

  (Authors’ Note :   This will be a several part series discussing why the current method of farm estate and succession planning is not working)  This is part 3 of a 5-part series regarding the authors’ view that farm estate planning in this country is broken and needs fixed, especially in light of “Farm Estate Armageddon” that will happen this decade when ¼ of all farmers retire and 2/3 of all farmers will be over the age of 65.   Past articles can be viewed at www.farmlegacy.blogspot.com .               Why is farm estate planning so much different than other businesses?   Well, to answer that question, we need to break down and compare farming, in general, to other businesses. Perhaps one of the most glaring differences between farming and other businesses is that farming is an “asset heavy-income light” profession.   Two years ago, before we had a rebound in grain prices, I asked a lender what he saw as far as a rate of return on assets for farmers.   The answer was 0.3 perce