THE PEOPLE WHO PUT THEIR HAND UP
The kitchen table
By Sam Marwood
Part 7 of 12
From their kitchen window, the neighbours across the road could see the calf shed on the first farm. Most mornings they watched the couple's kids at the rail with the buckets.
The neighbours had milked their own farm their whole working lives. Their son farmed interstate, and their daughter was a nurse in the city. They were ready to step back, and they wanted the farm to keep going.
They took their time. Their accountant went through it all, then their solicitor, and every answer came back in writing, with the numbers done. They worked through the pages at the kitchen table over a winter of evenings.
On the day they decided, the papers were spread between the teapot and the sugar bowl, and their son and daughter were on the phone on speaker.
The top page said it plainly: "There is a way to step back from the farm without selling it. Your farm moves into the Cultivate Trust, which runs it on your behalf, with the right farmer on it. The farm stays whole, stays farmed and stays in local hands. Your family keeps a stake, with choices: hold it, pass it on, or sell some over time."
"That's the one," their daughter said.
The neighbour looked out at the calf shed across the road, then at his wife.
"Right," he said. "Let's do it."
His wife rang the solicitor before the tea went cold.
This is an illustration. The district and its people are made up.
Your Farm, Your Legacy is free at cultivatefarms.com/resources.