By Mike Downey, Certified Farm Succession Consultant I was recently handed a note written by Mom she wishes to have her children read one day. She opened her letter with these three statements: Inheritance is a gift, not a right It is our wish to treat all of our children fairly, but not necessarily equally […]
Yearly Archives: 2018
03
Dec
Dec
We would like to thank the Iowa Farmer Today for asking us to contribute to this story about flexible cash rent lease arrangements. Our leasing program that is mentioned in this article is quite simple. It is a flat fee of $10 per acre that can be paid by the landowner, the producer, or this […]
13
Sep
Sep
Article by Betsy Freese from Successful Farming The corn crop around Lisbon, Iowa, this morning is on pace for record yields, but the four men gathered for a discussion are not throwing a party. Markets are down and agriculture is five years into a financial tailspin. Helping farmers transition to the next generation is on […]
28
Aug
Aug
By Mike Downey, Next Generation Ag Advocates Pay Yourself First. A common phrase we’ve all heard from the financial planning industry to encourage us to set aside a percentage of our income towards savings or retirement. The same concept was used recently during a meeting I had with a farm producer and their landlord. The […]
27
Jul
Jul
“Fifty-three percent of Iowa farmland is rented,” according to the Iowa State University Farmland Ownership Tenure Survey released in 2017. A high percentage of these agreements are for a simple cash lease. Yes, we agree a fixed cash rent lease is simple in concept, but can also present challenges. We have experienced this ourselves while […]
06
Jul
Jul
The New Food Economy published an article in May 2018 written by Beth Hoffman who has reported on food and agriculture for more than 20 years. One of her conclusions was that as land is passed on to kids and grandkids, million of acres across the country end up being owned by people who are […]
03
Jul
Jul
Production agriculture will face multiple challenges in the decades to come as several reports suggest our world population will increase by over a third to a total of 9.8 billion by 2050. This means the demand to produce food to feed this growing population will continue to grow. One of the issues that has been […]
01
Jul
Jul
Originally published November 17, 2012. Download a pdf of the original story here. My heart goes out to the people of the East Coast after Hurricane Sandy ripped through their homes and businesses. There have been 110 reported deaths and estimated damages of greater than $60 billion. Most hurricanes revolve around centers of warm air. […]
01
Jul
Jul
Originally published July 21, 2012. Download a pdf of the original story here. The first official day in my farm estate-planning career was July 1, 1992. At 22 years of age, I journeyed into business with a limited knowledge of the technical aspects of estate- and farm-continuation planning. The man responsible for my initial training […]
01
Jul
Jul
Originally published April 15, 2017. Download a pdf of the original story here As the grass starts to grow each spring, it makes me think of turning cows with baby calves out to pasture for the first time. After a long winter of being in cornstalks, cows are happy to be back on green grass. Baby […]