Articles
Short reads from the free guides, one topic at a time. For retiring farmers, farming families, aspiring farmers and their towns.
WHO IT'S FOR
For retiring farmers and their families
AGEING ON FARM
How do farmers retire? Seven ways to step back from the farm
Seven ways farmers can step back from the farm, from a flexible lease to the Cultivate Trust, with the main upside and downside of each.AGEING ON FARMWhat is ageing on farm?
Ageing on farm means staying on your farm as you get older, with the support you need, while someone else takes on the heavy work.AGEING ON FARMWhy letting go of the farm is so hard
Why letting go of the farm is so hard, and what helps: the grief, handing over control, your partner's pace, and your identity as a farmer.AGEING ON FARMShare farming: how it works, with an example
How share farming works for a retiring farmer, who pays for what in a sharefarming agreement, an example, and the benefits and drawbacks.AGEING ON FARMThere 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. What that means for your farm and family.For farming families
THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDE
Farm succession starts with one conversation
Why the hardest part of farm succession is getting the family talking, and how everyone in a farming family has a way in.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEWhat happens to a family farm with no succession plan?
Two futures for the same farming family: one where they talked and planned, and one where nobody spoke up in time.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEWho should start the succession conversation?
In every family where farm succession went well, one person started it. How to start it from love, and what to do if the first try goes badly.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEWhy do farming families put off succession planning?
The barriers that stop farming families planning succession, from fear of the conversation to a farm that can't be split evenly, and what helps.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEWho belongs in the farm succession conversation?
The sibling far away, the one who's done the work, the partner who married in, the spouse who's been waiting: everyone belongs at the table.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEHow do you start the succession conversation with your parents?
When your parents won't plan the farm's future, you can plan for them: how to build a kids' plan with love, and a letter to go with it.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEWhen the kids don't want the farm
How to tell your parents you don't want to farm, with love, and what a farming family can do when none of the kids want the farm.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEShow your family what the farm means to you
When the succession conversation won't start, show what the farm means instead: a photo book, a recording, a meal, a letter from a grandchild.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEFarm succession planning: start with what each person wants
Farm succession planning starts with what each person wants. Questions for the farmer, partner, kids and next farmer, and where the plan leads.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEBefore you plan succession, know where the farm stands
Map the farm's assets, debts, structure and people, then check the numbers stack up for the retiring farmer and the next generation.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDETax, insurance and the team behind your farm succession plan
The tax questions for an agricultural accountant, the insurance checks for a broker, and the rest of the professional team a farming family needs.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEWills, powers of attorney and protecting your succession plan
Your succession plan and your will have to agree. The legal questions to work through, and a plan for when things don't go to plan.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEWho lives in the farmhouse, and who makes the decisions?
Housing, the handover of the work, who decides what, and passing on decades of farm knowledge when one generation of a farming family steps back.THE CULTIVATE FARMS SUCCESSION GUIDEFarm succession options: which pathway fits your family?
The seven farm succession pathways, from a flexible lease and share farming to the Cultivate Trust, and when each one suits a farming family best.For aspiring farmers
YOU CAN OWN A FARM
How to own a farm when you didn't inherit one
You didn't inherit a farm and you don't have millions. What it takes to work toward one: inspiration, perseverance, planning and patience.YOU CAN OWN A FARMSeven doubts about owning a farm, and the answers
Not ready, too small a deposit, can't live off it, nervous about your job: the doubts that stop aspiring farmers, and why they shouldn't.YOU CAN OWN A FARMHow do I find a farm? Start with relationships
Getting onto a farm runs through people: help farmers out, talk about your vision, keep in touch, and work with rural real estate agents.YOU CAN OWN A FARMHow to find retiring farmers looking for someone like you
Where aspiring farmers meet retiring farmers, what to say on the first visit and the next, the letter, and why to aim for first right of purchase.YOU CAN OWN A FARMWhy you need a farm business plan before you find the farm
Why a written plan is how aspiring farmers get taken seriously, why to start before there's a farm, and the two documents you'll end up with.YOU CAN OWN A FARMWriting your farm plan: the summary, and why you're worth backing
How to write the summary of your Farm Ownership Plan, and how to show a retiring farmer or a backer you're the right person to back.YOU CAN OWN A FARMYour farm plan: the property, how you'll run it, and the risks
What your farm plan should say about the property, how you'll run it over the next ten years, and the risks you've planned for.YOU CAN OWN A FARMThe money side of your farm plan: finance, backing and governance
How to set out the costs, budget and backing in your farm plan: who puts in what, security, the exit, and how you'll run it well.YOU CAN OWN A FARMWho backs an aspiring farmer? Where to find your backers
Retiring farmers, banks, family and friends, local buyers and communities: who backs aspiring farmers onto a farm, and what backers want.YOU CAN OWN A FARMHow to get onto a farm before you can buy it outright
Buying into a farm over time, share farming, flexible leases and partnerships: how aspiring farmers get onto land before they can buy it.YOU CAN OWN A FARMLease to buy a farm, or vendor finance: two ways to own one
How lease to buy and vendor finance work for an aspiring farmer, with an example of each, and the benefits and drawbacks to weigh up.YOU CAN OWN A FARMHow to be the farmer a retiring farmer chooses
If you want to run a farm, what retiring farmers look for in the farmer they choose, and one option that changes who gets the farm.For locals and local leaders
COMMUNITY OWNED FARMS