Farm Horizons
•
technical details for another meeting, Hachfeld said.
“The role of the farm family is essentially to discuss
as a family what their values are, and out of that comes
what their prioritized goals are . . . If the farm family
starts trying to fit all (the legal) pieces together, they’re
going to get so confused and frustrated that they’ll quit
right there,” Hachfeld said.
For those who want general guidance, University
of Minnesota Extension staff lead farm transition and
estate planning workshops that cover concepts, techniques, strategies, and procedures. The workshops are
sponsored by community businesses and organizations
such as attorneys, insurance agents, and financial planners. Hachfeld said farmers can keep an eye out for
local opportunities, which are promoted by the sponsoring organization in its community.
For more individualized help, farm business management education programs offer farm succession
planning curriculum.
“That’s one of my big roles I see is to keep the ball
moving. Everybody talks about doing [farm succession planning], everybody wants to do it. The ball gets
dropped sometimes,” Meyer said.
Farm business management is administered through
eight college campuses at 85 different sites across
Minnesota. The program is designed to provide educa-
April 4
•
Gary Hachfeld
Page 9
Shawn Meyer
tion to farm owners and operators, or persons interested in farming.
Enrollment in farm business management includes
10 credits over the course of one year. Tuition varies
slightly by institution, but at Ridgewater College a year
in the program costs $1,721, and essentially pays for a
block of time with the instructor to cover the learning
needs of the individual farmer, which can be customized to include farm succession planning. Enrollment
is possible at any time during the year.
With dedicated help from an instructor, Meyer finds
Mayer Lumber Co.
IN BUSINESS SINCE 1938
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; Sat. 8 a.m. to 12 noon
201 Ash Ave. (Hwy. 25), Mayer, (952) 657-