Succession Planning - a MUST for farmers!

Anne was recently invited to speak at a farming conference on Planning for Succession.

The conference was one of the initiatives being taken following the publication of The Yorkshire Rural Support Network's Report 2006 - Succession Planning within Farming Families.

Key points in the report:

• Succession planning should be addressed at an earlier stage, not when the older generation is at the end of their career


• An awareness should be created of the importance of future planning


• Fear of succession planning and the emotional implications prevent families from acknowledging the issue


• Tenanted farmers have limited options and may struggle to change/diversify


• Housing is a barrier to young people entering into the farming business


• Young people are going on to further education and a career before returning home to work, often because there isn't an income available from the farm.

The event was a great success - there was even a write up in the Farmers Guardian.

Due to the success of the event, more conferences are planned in the New Year, hopefully the first of which will be in February. I'll keep you posted as to dates, times etc.