A3B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 8, 2003
PLANNING FOR THE
THREE D’S
Imagine that you are killed to
morrow in an accident. What
would happen to your farm oper
ation?
Your son announces that he is
getting divorced. Are your assets
at risk?
What provisions have been
made for your son’s wife and
children?
You or your son is involved in
a farm accident, leaving the in
jured person permanently disa
bled. Do you have contingency
plans for income protection and
long- term health care?
The three D’s or death, di
vorce, and disability can create
havoc on any farm operation and
even force it out of existence.
All of these “what-if ’ scenarios
are not issues most of us want to
think about, much less discuss.
But without planning, you may
leave your farm vulnerable to ir
reversible damage.
If the family ends up in a bitter
dispute, the only winners will be
the lawyers who pocket the pro
ceeds. Your plans should address
“unlikely” as well as more pre
dictable misfortunes that could
occur.
Consider this scenario:
Father and son developed a
50/50 partnership that is working
well. A will was put in place that
provides for the surviving spouse
in case of the other’s death. Fa
ther dies and mom gets all of his
assets. Does son need to buy out
mom and his siblings? Can he af
ford to do so? With dad out of
the picture, will the nonfarm sib
lings demand their share of the
farm and pressure mom to sell to
the highest bidder? Mom is over
whelmed and doesn’t know what
to do. How can a fair solution be
devised for all concerned?
Or, you son’s wife decides she
can’t stand farm life. The mar
riage ends in bitterness
and divorce, with the
daughter-in-law laying
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claim to the farm. To settle, part
or even the entire farm may need
to be sold, rendering it a nonvi
able economic situation. Does
your contingency plan cover
what would happen to the land,
shares in the business, and the
management of the business in
the event of divorce? What if
Dad gets a divorce and remar
ries? Remarriage, especially of
the founder, can dramatically
alter the dynamics of both the
family and the business.
Some families decide to use
prenuptial agreements to safe
guard the business in the event of
a marital split. Good records will
tell you going into the marriage
which assets were owned and
which ones were acquired since
the marriage. Your agreement
should spell out how the partner
ship will be handled in the event
of a divorce so that the business
doesn’t have to be dissolved.
Many people think of farm
transfer planning as only plan
ning for death. Either partner in
the transfer could develop a disa
bling disease or condition that no
longer allows them to function
physically or mentally. In addi
tion to being debilitating, disabili
ty can be extremely expensive
and emotionally wearing.
Do you have a power of attor
ney for both your business and
personal affairs? Does you family
understand what full and limited
power of attorney mean? Have
you thought about living wills
and conservatorship/
guardianship?
All of these issues need to be
considered if you would like the
business to outlive you.
To leam more about transfer
planning, attend Pennsylvania
Farm Link’s upcoming Passing
on the Farm Workshop at the
York County extension office.
For more information, contact us
at (717) 664-7077.
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‘Maximizing Opportunities’ Conference Set
GRANTVILLE (Dauphin Co.)
The Professional Dairy Man
agers of Pennsylvania (PDMP)
invite dairy businessmen and
businesswomen to attend the
PDMP Annual Meeting and Con
ference Maximizing Opportu
nities March 25-26 at the Holi
day Inn, Grantville.
PDMP joins Penn State Dairy
Alliance and Department of
Dairy and Animal Science to
offer this unique opportunity for
dairy producers to participate in
a conference planned by some of
the most progressive dairy pro
ducers in the area. Sessions on
dairy development, maximizing
investments, and nutrient man
agement will all feature tips from
successful dairy producers.
Tom Thompson, owner of
Stotz Dairies in Buckeye, Ariz.,
presents three times during the
conference. Thompson’s herd has
grown from 539 cows in 1981 to
the current size of 3,676 cows,
which produce 28,900 pounds of
3.5 percent fat-corrected milk. He
will share his business experi
ences in the Stotz dairy business,
a systematized approach to dairy
management. His presentation
includes a visual tour.
Members of PDMP visited
Stotz Dairy in February 2002,
discovering that Thompson has a
great team of empowered em
ployees that contribute to the
Farm Bill Payment Sign-Up
LEBANON (Lebanon Co.)
Frank Reist, chairperson of the
Lebanon County Farm Service
Agency Committee, reminds
farmers that the April 1 -base se
lection deadline is almost upon
us. Growers have until April 1 to
make a base selection and pro
vide the owner’s agreement to
participate in the Direct and
Counter Cyclical Payment Pro
gram (DCP). Missing this critical
date could cause you to
lose valuable program ben-
efits.
Sign-up activities re
quire that many growers
visit the office more than
once, Reist suggests that
growers contact the office
for an appointment prior
to their visit. Office staff
can then prepare for the
visit to greatly speed the
process.
The different options af-
dairies’ success. His second talk
focuses on employee manage
ment: starting with a vision.
Thompson will also demonstrate
his data monitoring system. A
key concept of this system is that
when performance is measured,
performance improves; but when
performance is measured and re
ported back, the rate of improve
ment accelerates.
Tom Shephard, Agri-Edge,
Inc, will address the opportuni
ties for working together to grow
and strengthen the Pennsylvania
dairy industry. As dairies invest
in technologies and expansions,
are the processing plants com
mitted to doing the same? How
can Pennsylvania producers de
velop partnerships?
Jim Vincent, L-Brooke Farms,
Inc., Byron, N.Y., owns several
agricultural businesses, including
a dairy and a vegetable farm and
is an enterprising marketer.
Learn how he creates businesses
and develops partnerships.
Brad Hilty, Penn State Dairy
Alliance, will discuss the impor
tance of setting up information
systems to provide producers
with the information they need to
evaluate the different segments of
their businesses to operate more
profitably.
Alyssa Dodd, Penn State De
partment of Agricultural Eco
nomics and Rural Sociology, spe-
forded by the program cause en
rollment to take longer then pre
vious enrollment experiences.
The required involvement of
farm owners is a new twist,
which can also take additional
time. If a farm operator wishes to
separate multi-ownership tracts
into separate farms, another visit
is required before the farms can
be enrolled. Take care of your
risk protection package now.
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717/738-7365
Hours. Mon. thru Fn.: 7-5; Sat. 7-11
cializes in agricultural
environmental policy. She’ll talk
about the latest information on
changing federal and state nutri
ent management rules.
Is it possible to make money
with manure? Peter Wright,
PRO-DAIRY, Cornell Universi
ty, is a professional engineer and
manure treatment specialist.
He’ll discuss progressive technol
ogies for manure management
and show producers how to
implement a variety of practical
systems that actually turn nutri
ent management into a profitable
enterprise.
Pete Knigge, Knigge Farms,
LLC, Omro, WI purchased robot
ic milkers two years ago. Find
out why he made the decision,
how it has changed his lifestyle
and management practices, as
well as his recommendations for
ensuring profitability.
And finally, one of PA’s own
success stories will be shared by
Kevin Holtzinger, Ke-Holtz
Dairy, East Berlin. Holtzinger
knows that profitability doesn’t
come easy. He’ll share his story
of climbing out of debt and learn
ing to focus on basic business
practices.
This promises to be a powerful
program that incorporates lead
ing edge, unbiased information
about new practices and technol
ogies, a heads up on environ
mental issues, and social time
with others that are positive
about dairying as a business.
Make plans now to join this
unique opportunity for dairy pro
ducers and to learn and network
together.
For a complete agenda, listing
of sponsors and PDMP member
ship details, visit our Website
HYPERLINK “http://
www.pdmp.psu.edu” HYPER
LINK “http://www.das.psu.edu/
pdmp/” http://www.das.psu.edu/
pdmp/ or call (888) 373-7232.
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