“Every single farm is going to go through a transition at some point,” said Nick Oakley, a business development lead with Farm Management Canada.
“You can’t be farming forever, and if you want to see your farm continue, you have to find somebody to continue it for you,” he added. This, in a nutshell, defines succession planning. But it is not nearly so simple.
According to Oakley, a staggering 75 per cent of Canadian farms are projected to change hands over the next ten years. Only 12 per cent have a formal transition plan, while an additional 13 per cent are actively working on one.
“It is never too early to start planning, but it can definitely be too late,” he cautioned, while noting that without a proper plan, farms can incur significantly higher taxes and legal fees, where lawyers and the government are the only winners. Unplanned transitions can lead to farms shutting down if a successor is not named or properly prepared, and relying solely on a will can inadvertently devastate family relationships, he said.
Part of the complication stems from the fact that a farm is often much more than a business. “There are so many more emotions attached to it because it’s not just about the business, it’s often about the family home that you grew up in, and the land that you spent your childhood on,” Oakley explained.
“Often, the trickiest part is just getting the conversation started,” he added, noting he hears from young farmers across the country who simply don’t know how to approach the subject. In fact, women and young farmers have been found to have higher levels of stress compounded by the pressure to maintain family and farm team harmony and transition planning, said Oakley, while referring to a recent study.
“A lot of the time, when people come to the table, they don’t have everything sorted out, and there is a bigger conversation that needs to be had. But, once you can sort through everybody’s desires for the farm and everybody’s concerns and really align on that, the actual plan and getting it on paper is probably the easiest part,” he said.
The most important thing is that farm families start communicating. Oakley said he encourages families to start talking about each member’s expectations and what a successful transition would look like in five years. “Oftentimes, there’s a lot more alignment than most people think.”
For Noel Erskine, the conversation took place shortly after he graduated from McGill University’s Farm Management and Technology program and returned home to the family farm. He is now the sole owner of Les Fermes Erskine while his grandfather, father, and uncles hold shares and continue to work on the Hinchinbrooke-based dairy farm.
Erskine said that even though the transition was relatively straightforward, his family maintains an open-minded approach that ensures everyone’s opinions are considered in farm discussions. He emphasized the importance of good communication: listening, understanding, and asking direct questions to avoid making assumptions.
“At the end of the day, most farmers – whether they are really ready to step back and let the next generation take over or not – they want to see the farm continue,” said Erskine.