Planning Your Retirement and Farm Transfer:
Resources to Help You with the Process
Farm Succession Risk Management Checklist
http://riskcheck.familybusinessonline.org/
This online checklist asks a series of ‘yes/no’ questions related to farm succession. As a family, you'll
benefit the most if each involved family member completes the checklist. You'll be able to print your
answers and the results/recommendations to discuss together as a family. The checklist may offer some
conversation starters and may raise questions and considerations re: farm transfer that you may not have
thought of or discussed together. Author: Dr. Patricia Frishkoff. Funded by United States Department of
Agriculture.
Planning the Future of Your Farm: A Workbook on Farm Transfer Decisions
http://www.ncftn.org/planning
This 98 page workbook, the second edition of an earlier 48 page edition, is a collection of narrative
materials and worksheets designed to help families with difficult decisions about beginning a process for
farm transfer planning. It is designed as a "decision-support" tool whereby users can gather information,
assess their values and goals, and consider their farm resources and estate information for working with
professional advisors. The 2006 version is available at this link to The North Carolina Farm Transition
Network, but the 2009 update will also be available online soon! The website offers additional resources,
stories and studies that may be relevant to your own situation, as well.
Center for Farm Transitions
1-877-475-2686 www.iplantofarm.org
This is a collection of existing information and resources that will assist new farmers looking to get started,
existing farmers who wish to make changes to their operations, and those transitioning their assets either to
retire or prepare for new careers.
"Who Gets Grandpa's Farm?" Communicating about Farm Transfer
http://www2.ces.purdue.edu/farmtransfer/
This website provides information and resources for farm succession planning, including frequently asked
questions on transferring farm ownership, a presentation guide, videos about a real farm family, and an
interactive quiz.
“Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate?”
www.yellowpieplate.umn.edu
An easy-to-understand online guide to passing on non-titled personal belongings.
Planning for a Secure Retirement
http://www2.ces.purdue.edu/retirement/.
A 10-module guide designed to help you with your planning for retirement. Each module provides
information that can be valuable in answering the questions you need to consider as you make your plans.
The modules include specific goals for the module, activities to complete, and sources for more
information. Topics include knowing/estimating what your expenses will be in retirement and how much
you will need, figuring out when you can collect social security and if you will be eligible for Medicare and
other benefits, using retirement accounts (such as IRA’s) and more.
The Retirement Estimator for Farm Families
http://www.ces.purdue.edu/farmretirement/
Whether you are thinking of retiring gradually or about taking the big step all at once, you may wonder
whether you can afford to retire. This site is designed to help you answer some of your questions about
retirement. Developed by Purdue University in conjunction with the USDA.
USDA Agricultural Mediation Program
First, What Is Mediation?
The USDA Mediation Program gives farmers and ranchers a confidential way to resolve disputes involving farm
loans, conservation programs, wetland determinations, rural water loan programs, grazing on national forest
system lands, pesticides, and other issues determined by the Secretary of Agriculture. Mediation services can
include counseling and financial analysis to prepare parties for the mediation session.
Agricultural mediation is a way of settling disputes within a producers own means. The program provides a
neutral mediator that can sit down or work on the phone to resolve very sticky issues. Instead of years it can
take for a case to filter through the courts, the mediation process generally takes a few meetings to complete.
Maryland Agricultural Mediation Program
1-800-492-5590 or www.farmsense.org
If you have a conflict and you need a neutral party to help to facilitate discussions and negotiations,
consider mediation. Farm, Agricultural and Rural Mediation: Solid Efforts to Negotiate Solutions Effectively
is the official USDA-certified agricultural mediation program for Maryland, offering confidential assistance to
the state's agricultural community and others with concerns related to agriculture.
Local mediation programs may also be able to help in your situation, especially in dealing with family
conflicts. In these cases, community mediation is a voluntary, confidential process in which two neutral
mediators help two or more people find win-win solutions to their conflict. Community mediators guide the
participants through a process that helps identify problems, generate solutions and create agreements
acceptable to both. Courts often maintain a list of locally available mediation programs. On the Eastern
Shore, the Midshore Community Mediation Program is one such program:
http://www.midshoremediation.org/index.html
Ag Business Management
‘Transferring the Farm’ Series- University of Minnesota Extension Service
Can be downloaded online at http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/businessmanagement/M1177.html
This is an excellent ten-module series of facts sheets on the following topics:
1. Preparing to Transfer the Farm Business
2. Farming Together as a Transfer Strategy
3. Using Farm Partnerships or Corporations to Transfer Assets
4. Transferring Livestock & Machinery
5. Should You Sell Your Real Estate?
6. Gifting Farm Assets
7. Major Tax Considerations When Transferring Assets
8. Treatment of the Heirs in the Transfer Process
9. Financial Help for Beginning Minnesota Farmers
10. Developing a Written Transfer Plan
www.eXtension.org
eXtension is unlike any other search engine or information-based website. The resources and information
are objective, research-based, and credible. The site provides information and tools you can use every day
to improve your life. The “Ask an Expert” feature ensures that you will get a reliable, timely response to
your questions—from a ‘real person.’
Crystal Terhune, MSW-- Family and Consumer Sciences Educator 410-479-4030 crystalt@umd.edu
University of Maryland Extension, Caroline County 207 S. 3rd Street Denton, MD 21629
University of Maryland Extension Offers Equal Access Programs