Aside from the deeply personal aspects of succession planning in farming and food businesses, there are conflicting forces to navigate:
- As someone on the verge of retirement, you want to get the highest price from a prospective buyer.
- On the other hand, the next generation needs to be able to afford to continue in the industry.
This results in the biggest, best-resourced buyers being the only ones who can keep going: institutional investors, land developers, and the extremely wealthy.
The solution
Bridge the areas of:
- Retirement/financial planning
- Farmland/agribusiness investment
- Market research & strategy
- Fair valuation
- Seller financing
- Tax impacts
Identify steps to take, starting now:
- Shift into different crops/varieties
- Make targeted investments in technology, capabilities
- Generate additional revenues from emerging markets: water, ecosystem services, biomass
- All tied in to traditional retirement and estate planning activities