Mark Modzeleski, Legacy Wealth Advisors of NY, LLC
One of the things I’ve realized over the years working with farm families is that most people want to jump right into the technical planning. They want to talk about LLCs, trusts, wills, life insurance, taxes, buy-sell agreements, gifting strategies, entity structures, and all of the things that eventually become part of a good plan. And to be clear, those things matter. They matter a lot.
But before any of those conversations can truly be effective, I usually try to slow everybody down and ask one bigger question: what are we actually trying to accomplish?
That sounds simple. In reality, it is often the hardest part of the entire succession, continuity, and transfer planning process. If we don’t know the goal, how do we know what we are planning for?
The reason this is so difficult is because a farm is both a business and a family at the exact same time. Those two things are connected, but they are not always aligned. Sometimes the family goal is to preserve the legacy exactly the way it has always existed. Meanwhile, the business reality may be that the farm needs to grow, contract, modernize, diversify, or completely change direction in order to survive.
Sometimes one generation values security while another generation values growth. Sometimes the on-farm heirs are comfortable taking risk because they understand the operation intimately, while the off-farm heirs see expansion, debt, or investment as dangerous and uncomfortable. Sometimes everyone says they want things to be “fair,” but nobody has really defined what fair actually means.
And that matters, because equal and fair are not always the same thing.
Underneath all of this are different expectations, different personalities, different fears, and different visions for the future. That is why I think goal planning is so important. It gives the family and the business a place to start before everybody gets lost in documents, tax strategies, and legal structures.
Let me give you two examples that show how different these conversations can be.
The first farm is a successful, moderate-sized operation that has grown steadily over decades. It is extremely well run. Profitable. Organized. Good people. From the outside looking in, it might look like the kind of farm where succession should be pretty straightforward.
But life made it more complicated.
The husband remarried years ago. Both he and his wife have children from previous marriages, but they do not have children together. None of the wife’s children have any real interest in agriculture. The husband’s children both care about agriculture, but not necessarily in the sense that they want to come back and operate that specific farm in the same way it has always operated.
For years, the assumption was that eventually one or both of his children would come back and take over the operation. The planning reflected that assumption. But life happened. Career opportunities changed. Geography changed. Family dynamics changed. Interests evolved.
While the children still care deeply about agriculture, it became increasingly clear they were not going to return to run that farm long term.
So now the planning changes.
The goal is no longer simply moving management from one generation to the next. The conversation shifts toward continuity of the land, monetization of the business, preserving family relationships, and potentially transitioning the operation to a neighbor, key employee, or outside operator. The goal becomes maintaining the agricultural legacy while making sure Mom and Dad have financial security and the family receives appropriate value for what has been built.
That is a completely different planning process than an intergenerational family transfer.
Same farm. Same people. Different goal.
Now compare that to another farm.
This operation has three children, all of whom have played major roles in the business over the years. Two remain heavily involved day to day. One worked on the farm previously but has since moved into another career path. In this situation, the goal is much clearer: continuity of the family farm through the next generation.
But even when the goal is clear, the conversation can still be complicated.
The operation likely needs to continue growing in order to support multiple families moving forward. Growth requires investment, risk, management, and long-term decision-making. The on-farm heirs understand that reality because they live it every day. The off-farm heir may not view risk the same way because they are not emotionally or operationally tied to the business in the same way.
Now the conversation becomes more personal and more difficult. What does fairness look like? How do we balance inheritance with sustainability? How do we avoid crippling the operation financially while still treating family members appropriately? And perhaps most importantly, do the people involved actually have the skill sets necessary to lead the farm into the future?
One of the things this family did extraordinarily well was honestly evaluate where their weaknesses existed. They realized there were areas of expertise the family simply did not possess internally. Instead of pretending otherwise, they aggressively hired outside talent in areas like HR, financial management, strategic planning, and operations.
I think that level of honesty is incredibly important.
Many successful farms eventually realize that continuation of the business may require hiring people who are smarter, more experienced, or more specialized than the family in certain areas. That is not failure. In many cases, that is leadership.
Once we start talking honestly about goals, it does not take long before the operational realities show up. If one family becomes two, does the farm need to double in size to support both households? If additional management comes in, what capital investments are required? Do we have the right people on the bus, and are they sitting in the right seats? As key people retire or leave, are we replacing them with high-quality talent? Are we intentionally transferring skills, relationships, leadership ability, and management knowledge to the next generation?
These are difficult conversations, but they matter.
And the reality is, goals change. Sometimes dramatically.
Farm A spent decades assuming children would eventually return and take over the operation exactly as it existed. When that did not happen, the family had to pivot entirely. Farm B realized that while family continuity was achievable, the operation still needed outside expertise and a structure that allowed the business to continue evolving.
That is why I believe goal planning is perhaps the most important part of the entire process. It is the foundation.
It is like building a silo. If the dirt work and concrete are not done correctly, eventually something cracks. Maybe immediately. Maybe years later. But eventually the weakness shows itself.
Succession, continuity, and transfer planning are no different. If the foundation is unclear, everything built on top of it becomes unstable.
Succession planning requires understanding who is capable and willing to lead. Transfer planning requires understanding whether ownership stays inside the family, moves to key employees, or transitions outside the operation entirely. Continuity planning requires asking what happens tomorrow if a key owner, manager, or operator cannot work.
What is the plan? Who steps in? How do we financially and operationally keep things moving?
I think many farms would benefit tremendously from simply sitting down for an hour or two and talking honestly about goals and options before diving into technical planning. Some families do not even fully understand what their options are outside of, “I hope my son or daughter takes over someday.”
Before the trusts, before the entities, before the gifting strategies, before the insurance conversations, take a step back and ask: in a perfect world, what are we actually trying to accomplish? How do we want this farm and this family to move into the next generation? And what happens if life forces us to pivot?
Because good succession, continuity, and transfer plans are not rigid. The best plans are dynamic, flexible, and adaptable.Families change. Businesses change. Goals change. And the plans need to evolve alongside them.