Farming families have to talk to each other to plan for succession
Earlier in the summer I was fortunate to be included in the Rural Housing Summit at Highgrove House.
The day was predominantly focused on the provision of housing for retired farmers in the future and was a wonderful forum for exploring problems, airing opinions and testing theories. What emerged was a general assumption that one of the barriers to succession planning in farming families is the lack of appropriate housing for retiring farmers.
When it comes to finding accommodation for retiring members of the farming family, housing is certainly one of the problems. Gone are the days when generations live together in one house and each family unit within the farming family needs a home.
What is apparent to me is that whilst the subject of accommodation for retiring members of the farming family is ONE of the problems to succession planning, it is not THE problem.
There is no doubt in my mind that the single, most important barrier to succession planning in farming is that of communication.
Even families that have started to have the conversation about succession struggle with ongoing communication and fear is the biggest single issue – fear of falling out, fear of offending someone, fear of letting someone down and fear of things not being ‘fair’.
The result is that the sensitive subject is avoided at all costs and nothing moves forward. So often I have sons and daughters telling me that this is what they ‘think’ dad will want, or they ‘think’ this is what mum means, or they ‘think’ this is what their siblings feel. So often comments are made and either misunderstood or misconstrued or misinterpreted. It’s all very vague and not at all helpful when trying to plan for the future.
And plan for the future we must. I spoke at the Farm Tax Conference in London this summer and chairman, Jeremy Moody of CAAV reiterated that now is the time for a review of British farming.
He firmly believes that we are in a period of adaptation as we manage the economy through Brexit and that successful post-Brexit farmers will be those who are more competitive, more business-like and more proactive in the pursuit of change.
As American novelist William A Ward said: “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sail.”
Louise Taylor MA, MSc, Dip HRD is managing director of Taylor Millbrook Ltd and partner in Barbers Rural Consultancy LLP.
