Farm Transfer Workshops Reach Out To N. Y. ’s Small Farms
Adam Matthews
Cornell Small Farms Program
According to the “Dairy Farm
Business Summary,” the average
age of the principal operators
and owners of small farms in
New York State is 50 years. Cor
nell Cooperative Extension farm
management educators from
across the state have been look
ing for ways to help ensure that
these farms will be passed on to
the next generation. Farm trans
fer is something that takes care
ful planning and a long period of
time to implement, but owners of
small farm businesses, with their
limited time for both manage
ment and daily tasks, are particu
larly challenged.
Steve Richards, director of the
New York Farm Link Program,
was well acquainted with the im
portance of education in the suc
cessful transfer of small farms.
New York Farm Link was created
in 1996 to bring exiting farm
owners into contact with interest
ed farm-seekers. Richards helped
create a database to keep track of
both owners and seekers in the
farm transfer process.
The Farm Link database shows
that 93 percent of participants
are small farms. Two recent sur
veys of participants showed that
all parties were interested in fur
ther education on farm transfer
topics. Richards was also aware
that at the NY Farm Net toll-free
help-line, one out of every three
calls is a request for information
regarding farm transfer and that
85 percent of all calls to Farm Net
in 2001 were from small farms.
Richards knew that Farm Link
was a good idea, but he saw that
improvements could be made in
the area of owner/seeker net
working and education. He
worked with a group of CCE
farm management educators
from across New York State to
put together a proposal to Cor
nell’s Small Farms Program. The
group received a CCE grant for
innovative small farm education
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Call or write for additional information
and the name of your nearest dealer
for their “Farm Transfer Educa
tion Project.”
The group hoped to bring farm
owners and farm seekers together
for joint education. Seekers
would become better prepared to
write a business plan, create a re
sume, and complete a loan appli
cation. Owners would become
better prepared in presenting
their farm to seekers and would
be made aware of the options in
farm transfer that are available
to them. Both owners and seekers
would be linked with local re
sources for farm transfer, and
Cooperative extension educators
would be linked with on-campus
resources for farm transfer
(Farm Link).
Regional Workshops
Prior to the workshops, Rich
ards and his colleagues had de
veloped resource materials, in
cluding a “Senior Business
Transfer Guide” for exiting farm
ers, a “Junior Business Transfer
Guide” for beginning farmers,
and a “Facilitator’s Guide.” They
also contacted farmers so that
they could help decide the agen
da of the programs based on their
questions and their situations
(what stage of farm transfer they
were in). Local agents polled
farm families on their needs as
well as the best time and location
for their programs.
Richards organized a training
for farm transfer facilitators in
September 2002 at the Wyndham
Hotel in Syracuse. All of the CCE
farm management educators in
volved in the regional programs
attended. The group reviewed
draft materials and began plan
ning a series of regional work
shops.
The group agreed that one of
their main objectives was to help
farm owners and farm seekers
recognize that farm transfer is a
process, and to see the value of
the entire process, not just the
final agreement. Personal issues
are all-important, and need to be
discussed prior to an agreement.
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Organizers also wanted to
show farmers that there are peo
ple available to help with the
farm transfer process. Farm Net
consultants, CCE educators and
other professionals are available
to help with discussions, and the
new workbooks provide a valu
able framework for planning.
Eight farm transfer workshops
were conducted across the state
during November and December,
2002. A total of 51 families 137
individuals attended the series
of workshops. The audience was
predominantly dairy and pre
dominantly small farms, al
though the advertising was tar
geted to a more general audience.
Some owners of larger farms
were in attendance, as well as
two beginning farmers.
As a result of the workshops,
some farmers are already starting
the process of farm transfer. One
participant sold his dairy herd,
another put a farm transfer
agreement into place, and a third
sought the help of a grazing ex
pert to make his operations more
viable for a transfer to his son.
Also, a number of farmers are ac
tively using the workbooks to
help them along in the farm
transfer process.
Workshop facilitators believe
that the method of teaching by
informal discussion was a key to
success. Participants indicated
that they gained a lot of insight
from other participants. Joan
Petzen, Allegany County CCE,
saw the benefits of this approach
immediately:
“In South Dayton, splitting the
group into different generations
helped both (owners and seekers)
realize that their goals were simi
lar, which they hadn’t realized
prior to the seminar.” Petzen says
that in the Belmont workshop,
the real-life example of a young
couple seeking to take over the
family farm served as a focal
point for the discussion. The
group shared ideas while working
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to help this young couple develop
a strategy for moving the transfer
process forward.
Because the personal side of
farm transfers was included
along with the necessary techni
cal tools and information, attend
ees were able to gain an under
standing that many others
struggle with as they work to
ward transferring farm business
es. A primary key to success was
giving people plenty of time to
share ideas, discuss them, and
ask questions of one another.
To follow up the success of the
workshops, CCE farm manage
ment educators plan to repeat the
course offering in the future, help
to facilitate farm transfers, and
provide both farm owners and
farm seekers additional individu-
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al attention.
For more information on farm
transfer issues, contact your local
Cornell Cooperative Extension
office. For information about the
New York Farm Link Program,
contact Steve Richards at (800)
547-3276, str4@comell.edu. For
general small farm information,
visit Cornell’s Small Farms Pro
gram Website at www.smal
lfarms.cornell.edu.
The “Senior Business Transfer
Guide” for exiting farmers, “Jun
ior Business Transfer Guide” for
beginning farmers, and a “Facili
tator’s Guide” can be ordered by
calling the NY Farm Link Pro
gram at (800) 547-3276. The cost
is just $lO to cover printing and
postage.
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