Succession and legacy planning

No one wants to live to see their life’s work fade into the ether. And when your life’s work is in an industry that values concepts like tradition, family and legacy, it’s even more important to ensure that what you’ve built will endure. This is why succession and legacy planning is a hot-button topic in the ag industry.

As farmers age out of day-to-day operations and new decision-makers take over the family farm, it makes sense that certain things and points of view will change. You’re not your father, and he wasn’t his father, after all. Different generations have different ways of doing business, different views on technology, different loyalties to different brands and products.

Did we attract your attention when we mentioned brand loyalty?

We could argue that no industry values brand loyalty as much as the ag industry. If you’re a Deere family, you’re a Deere family. If your baseball cap is red, it tends to stay red. And if you have your say, that red (or green or yellow) cap is handed down. In ag, brand loyalty is a legacy.

Until it isn’t.

So as the current generation makes plans to hand the operation over to the new blood, how can we make sure that brand loyalty is handed over as well? Or, how do we capture the loyalty of the new generation as they consider switching it up?

Supporting legacy planning efforts can have a positive impact for companies with new decision-makers

Over the last ten years or so, legacy planning has become a major concern among farmers. Unlike the generation before them, baby boomers want to plan out the transfer of the farm and, dare we say it – retire. For a generation that has long juggled individual choice, conflict avoidance and prosperity, it makes sense that they would want to leave knowing that things will continue.

Legacy planning has become such a common need that programs like the Farm Journal Legacy Project have been created to help growers and their families navigate the minefield that is succession planning. The Farm Journal Legacy Project, sponsored by Farm Journal, is a concerted effort to address the succession planning needs of America’s farm families. It uses all Farm Journal Media properties to provide comprehensive succession planning information to members. The official mission of the project: to cultivate multigenerational success in the agricultural community.

So one of the largest ag media companies is putting a major push behind legacy and succession planning. Additionally, insurance companies have developed succession planning services, consultants specializing in ag legacy planning have popped up, and any given ag publication will regularly feature editorial content on the best ways to service your legacy.

It’s no longer a trend; it’s a movement, and it isn’t going anywhere. Savvy ag-related companies like Farm Journal and Nationwide have proven that they want to talk loudly and clearly to both generations. By getting in the ears of the outgoing and incoming decision-makers, these companies are ensuring that their legacies will endure with the younger generation.

Growers who plan for the future have a tendency to make more informed decisions

Woodruff Sweitzer (like anyone who has worked in ag for the last decade or more) knows that today’s farmers aren’t just “old-school” savvy; they’re “internet” savvy, meaning that they’re current on the latest trends, active on social media, and can conduct deep research with a few swipes of the finger (especially while they’re in a combine that’s being guided by a satellite). In short, they make informed decisions at every turn, and if they’re looking toward the future when it comes to their operation and legacy, they’re probably handing things off to some smart operators as well.

The “kids” taking over the family farms are even more informed, and they don’t make a single purchase without proper vetting. So, as the farm switches hands, it’s more important than ever to get your brand’s messages heard across the generation gap. Brand loyalty still exists, but only if the new generation agrees that the old generation’s loyalty was in the right place from an economic or efficiency standpoint. An old-school New Holland farm might not stay that way if the new operator can be convinced that CLAAS is a more efficient combine. And the converse is true; if you have the parents hooked, they may be your strongest advocate. Long story short: make sure your message is heard, and that it resonates with both sides of the equation.

Support for succession planning goes beyond a program sponsorship

Smart companies are finding ways to support their customers and show that they are invested in the long-term success of the family farm. It is important to know what resources are available and how your company aligns with those resources to help your grower customers.

But it’s also important to show that you care. It’s a simple thing and seems obvious, but that emotional connection with the new as well as the old is vital. It goes back to messaging. If you support a succession planning program, or offer services to your customers, telling them why those services are important to you is almost as important as offering them to begin with.

This is why it’s more important than ever to partner with a communications agency, like Woodruff Sweitzer, that is intimately familiar with the ag industry. Young or old, retiring or just starting out, farmers can smell when you’re not being true. It takes knowledge and authenticity to truly connect. And not just anyone can do that.