Community
24 April, 2024
Have you planned your succession?
WESTVIC Dairy facilitated a workshop in Cobden to support local farming families understand the succession planning process.
The Our Farm, Our Plan program identified the need for a succession planning session. Many farmers have goals on succession but are unclear how to start the process and progress.
The most recent workforce survey revealed less than 14 per cent of farms in the WestVic Dairy region have an agreed plan written down for the transition of the farm.
Facilitator Colin Wright, a Principal and Agri team leader with Phillipsons Accounting said succession planning was a critical part of, farm business management.
“Succession planning is very complicated; it’s all about securing and safeguarding a future for yourself, the business, and the next generation,” he said.
“It’s also highly emotional and it can be very challenging to know where to begin.
“What’s important to keep in mind is everyone’s journey is different; what works for one family may not work for another.
“And whatever you do, start early. Succession planning takes time. There are many people involved, and many rules and regulations to consider.”
Mr Wright said the first place to start was to understand what you own.
“It’s important that you understand not only what you own, but how you own it. And not just the farm, but shares, superannuation, life insurance, things like that,” he said.
“Once you know what you’ve got, you can put values to it and can create a realistic succession plan.”
From there, Mr Wright said once you decide where you want to go, it all comes down to communication.
“You must be able to articulate your thinking, so everyone knows how you’ve done it and why you’ve done it,” he said.
“If you say nothing, no one understands why, and this is where problems occur.
“You must also make sure you document explains everything very clearly.”
Mr Wright said it was critical to have experts involved from the start.
The day concluded with a panel discussion with a dairy farming family, the Campbells.
Alan – along with his wife, Catherine – moved from New Zealand to Western Victoria in early 2000 and converted a sheep and cropping farm to a dairy farm.
Mr Campbells said there had been a lot of work, and a lot of ups and down to get the business to the point it is now.
“We anticipated we would milk 600 cows there, and we are now milking between 1200 and 1500,” he said.
“My wife and I wanted to make sure we pass on our business and our farm in a well-documented way to look after our future and our children.”
The couple have three children. Their son Adam is the farm manager and has been back on farm for seven years, and two daughters. One daughter, Sarah, provides the farm with business support in addition to her project management role in the telecommunications industry.
The Campbells are currently in the middle of succession planning using a facilitator.
The Campbells shared how they are progressing – and reinforced succession planning was both a highly complex and highly emotional subject.
“You do feel quite overwhelmed and daunted in the initial phases,” Mrs Campbells said.
“I did some research and found that Dairy Australia was offering a HR course. One of the things I took from the course is just how important succession planning was and to always include everyone in the discussion so that everything is open and transparent.”
“Everyone has fears and it’s good to communicate those fears. We wrote our fears down and discussed them and this helped a lot.”