The day after a dark and stormy July night was too drizzly for spraying but perfect conditions to attend the ‘Talking Farming’ Growth, Adoption, Productivity and Profitability (GAPP) event.
A 70–strong crowd of Wimmera and Mallee farming folk filled the warm and cosy Nhill Footy Clubrooms to attend the event supported by Agriculture Victoria and the Farming and Community Group Drought Funding Program, as well as the Nhill Young Farmers, ADM and the GRDC.
As usual, farming talk was on the agenda, but this was not your regular BCG event. The agronomy topics were set aside to tackle the often-unspoken issues of family dynamics, complex management and decision making and the dreaded ‘S–word’: Succession.
Succession planning is a ‘catch all’ term for ensuring business continuance which may require inter-generational transfer of responsibility and assets, usually taking years or decades, not months and often causing relationship challenges.
The purpose of the day was to shed light on these often-unspoken areas and to arm participants with tools to move from unspoken to spoken. Commencing the conversation is the first step to solutions that bring happiness and prosperity to the family and the business.
The tool of choice was learning more about conversation and how we impact and influence others through the art of conversation.
What better way to learn how to start a courageous and crucial conversation than to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Seated literally around the kitchen table, panellists were led in conversations by Kate Burke of Think Agri and BCG’s Pru Cook and Louisa Ferrier.
We heard more than a dozen people share their stories about how they’ve worked through complex situations, what critical conversations were had, who had helped them and what was learnt through experience.
Keynote kitchen table conversationalist Judy Wilkinson, herself a member of family business and a specialist in facilitating family farm conversations, had some clear messages:
- it’s never too late and it’s never too soon to start planning for farm business succession
- ask rather than assume – when you assume, it makes an ass out of you and me
- involve all the family, not just those on the farm
- succession is an ongoing conversation not just a ‘one and done’ talk
- put boundaries around family time and farming time
- have some farming free conversation at mealtimes.
Panel participants ranging in age from their twenties to late sixties had this to add on farm succession and farm business management in general:
“Get your ducks in order”
“Pay someone to help you have those conversations, it’s worth it”
“It‘s more than structures and assets, it’s a people thing”
“This takes years not months”
“Be open and put it all on the table”
“Be respectful to all parties”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself when reviewing farm decisions, all you can do is do your homework, consider the options going forward and make the best decision you can with the information at hand. You can’t predict the future.”
Also highlighted was the value of peer to peer learning and mentoring through involvement in farm discussion groups and community groups run by volunteers. The wisdom on offer from other sources can be invaluable, particularly when responsibility comes earlier than expected in one’s farming life. The positive and purposeful attitudes of panellists who had lived through some heart-breaking challenges both inspired and moved the audience.
Also discussed was the commonly unspoken issue of gender stereotypes and unconscious bias, where farming is considered a career option for the males in the family but not the females. The panellists of actively farming women and a townie son-in-law turned farmer, soon busted that myth to smithereens. Relegating skilled female machinery operators to cooking duties was viewed as a missed opportunity.
Responses such as ‘this has been the most beneficial day I have attended’ and requests for more help with succession planning were testament to the value of a day for friends and members of BCG.
Feel free to contact the BCG office for a list of farm succession resources or to register your interest in a similar event in your region.
BCG would like to thank Kate Burke, Louisa Ferrier and Pru Cook for facilitating the day, as well as our keynote speaker Judy Wilkinson and our panellists; John Ferrier, Alan Bennett, Julie McClelland, Karen Inkster, Bernard Lindsay, John Bennett, Sophie Bennett, Peter Taylor, Darren Jones, David Jochinke, Tom Cook, Kate Wilson, Ryan Milgate and Jess Pilgrim.
