Danielle Walsh, a partner with Meyers Norris Penny and co-author of A Practical Guide to Family Business Succession Planning, presented at the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association’s (CFGA) 16th Annual Conference: Greener Horizons: Technological Innovations in Forage and Grassland Management. The conference took place Nov. 18 to 21 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and was organized in partnership with the New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association (NBSCIA). 
 
Her presentation, Planning for Tomorrow’s Harvest: Farm Succession Made Simple, provided practical tips to help families with their succession planning journey. 
 
Did you know 98 per cent of farms in Canada are family owned? 
 
Another fun fact, by 2033, 40 per cent of farmers will retire and approximately two-thirds of those farmers are not prepared for succession. That means around 88 per cent of families don’t have a written succession plan, despite the fact that $53 billion in farmland is expected to change hands over the next decade (CBA, 2024). 
 
Danielle said we need to be serious and support family farms with transitioning to the next generation; ensuring the continuation of the farm and, more importantly, protecting the family relationship. 
 
Firstly, she laid out a clear description of succession planning. 
 
“A succession plan is the ability to paint a clear picture for the next generation for the next 50 years with respect to employment management, ownership and leadership of your family farm,” she said. “You should be able to answer questions: who’s going to share in ownership? Are they going to be able to make decisions together? Is our farm an opportunity or an inheritance?” 
 
Painting a clear picture is important to having a clear path forward and minimizing conflict around succession planning. 
 
Step one: Understand transition resistance 
Transitioning a farm comes with resistance,. This could be loss of identity, reluctance to retire, loss of control, family conflict and the inability to answer tough questions. 
 
Step two: Create a family farm governance structure 
Creating a family farm constitution or charter, grooming plans, outlining roles and responsibilities, shareholders agreement, a management table and creating a dispute-resolutions process are essential. She added, setting meetings (at different levels and roles) and outlining the family member roles and responsibilities are also part of this step. 
 
These practices protect the farm and the relationships of the people involved. The key is to create an objective framework and guiding principles which protect the land, the farm and the family and minimize conflict. 
 
The management table is one of the biggest success practices Danielle has seen. It acts as a way to prepare the next generation and leads to a successful transition. 
 
Step three: The succession process 
Management succession and ownership succession are two separate steps and should not be completed simultaneously, according to Danielle. She outlined the activities to have successful outcomes and a positive experience throughout the succession process. She said it starts by meeting with each family member, including the children as they sometimes offer the deepest insights. 
 
“The goal is to make sure every family member has a chance to share what are their concerns,” she said. “It can be really scary to say, ‘I’m going to pursue a career in the farm with no idea of how I’m ever going to own it or if I’m going own it with a bunch of siblings that I don’t particularly get along with.’ That is why those individual meetings are so important.” 
 
Step four: Succession checklist 
The succession checklist walks through a variety of items including guiding principles, code of conduct, wills, life insurance, dividend policy and more. The checklist will ensure the succession journey moves forward and is less stressful. 
 
“You will actually be able to paint that picture for the next generation of the next 50 years with respect to employment management, ownership and leadership of your family farm and keep that land and that farm in your family for generations.” 
 
2025 conference recordings   
Would you like to hear all of this presentation? The recordings are available for free to those who registered for the 2025 conference. Online access to recordings of all the conference sessions is also available for purchase. For more information, email [email protected].