Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Education and Training: farmer to farmer, technical assistance
- Farm Business Management: farm succession
Proposal abstract:
Opportunity and Justification: Transitioning to a successor farm is a significant challenge for many farms in Maine and across the region. During annual monitoring visits to date, 20% of farmers with conservation easements on their land noted to Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) stewardship staff the difficulty with farm succession. Many Maine farmers are low income, and low-resource producers are less likely to have a succession plan in place. One of the primary factors that supports a farm’s ability to engage in transition planning is access to professional services like lawyers, accountants and estate planners with relevant, up-to-date expertise.
Solution and Approach: The proposed solution is to 1) educate service providers at MFT on succession planning so they can identify and support farmers in taking the first steps by providing connections to resources and specialized support; and 2) train a smaller group of service providers to provide direct succession planning support to farmers 3) Ensure all farmer outreach is supported by feedback from an advisory committee composed of farmers and succession planning service providers, ensuring relevance of the materials and topics provided.
The following included approaches will increase farmer access to succession planning resources: 1) outreach materials to farms across Maine on succession planning; 2) in-person workshops for Maine farmers interested in succession planning; 3) engaging three farms as case studies; and 4) providing peer-to-peer connections for succession planning professionals across New England. These actions will start farmers with the succession planning process sooner, allowing for affordable retirement and improved quality of life, while ensuring the farmland stays in farming by supporting access to the next generation of farmers.
Specifically, sixty Maine farmers interested in farm succession will participate in three workshops focused on farm business transitions hosted by MFT staff, supported by Land for Good (LFG), serving as an on-the-ground training opportunity for MFT staff. Staff will support development of transition planning curriculum to deliver to Network farms, building relationships with farms in the beginning phase of transition. Three farms will engage in succession planning as case studies; key MFT staff will work in-depth with landowners to start succession planning alongside LFG staff mentors. Over 75 succession planning professionals across New England will increase their knowledge about succession planning through a facilitated remote conversation and information-sharing session by MFT and LFG.
This project will build on Maine Farmland Trust’s unique position, with long-term connections and relationships with farmers across Maine, to train MFT staff to: better address and recognize succession planning needs in MFT’s growing network of over 500 farms, connect farmers with trained professional services throughout the process, and share project outcomes with other organizations beyond Maine.
Performance targets from proposal:
Fifteen staff at Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) will receive in-depth training to provide succession planning assistance to its Network of over 500 farms, covering 68,000 acres across Maine by 1) creating farmland succession planning information, 2) identifying transfer/succession needs and sharing succession planning resources with farmers, and 3) deepening MFT staff understanding of transfer and succession models.
Sixty Maine farmers interested in farm succession will participate in three workshops focused on farm business transitions hosted by MFT staff, supported by Land for Good (LFG), serving as an on-the-ground training opportunity for MFT staff. Staff will support development of transition planning curriculum to deliver to Network farms, building relationships with farms in the beginning phase of transition.
Three farms will engage in succession planning as case studies; key MFT staff will work in-depth with landowners to start succession planning alongside LFG staff mentors.
Over 500 farmers will have an increased awareness of options around succession planning; over 60 will know what steps to take to begin succession planning for their own farm.