If you have a son or daughter ready to take over the farm, let them — and move off the yard so they can move in.
 

That’s advice Elaine Froese, a certified coach and private mediator for farm families had for a standing-room only audience at Ag Days’ Southwest Farm Women’s Network January 19.
 

The reward for transferring a land title while the farm founder still lives is reduced conflict and stress in the family. It provides assurance the farm stays in the family. It means the next generation can get on with it and give the exiting farmer peace of mind too.
 

Yet, typically most families put off even talking about this subject, says Froese.
 

They have their reasons. A Depression-era farmer often doesn’t want to uproot. Families fear conflict will erupt if ‘who gets the farm’ is raised. The older generation may not have financial resources to retire. Expectations and needs may not be clear.
 

But putting off this critical conversation won’t avoid conflict in the long run, stresses Froese. Neither will leaving the plan laid out in the will, with a ‘you kids can fight about it later’ approach.
 

She meets many troubled farm families whose root problem is an unresolved title transfer. Frequently two generations continue to live in uneasy alliance on a ‘split yard,’ where the home yard has been subdivided to create two titles.
 

Don’t split the yard, she cautions. It’s a costly procedure. Two houses on one yard can become a highly problematic piece of real estate down the road.
 

Instead, begin that difficult, must-have conversation to create a concrete plan for farm succession and a title transfer.

If emotions run high, consider hiring a coach to facilitate the discussion and keep it safe. Find a good lawyer to lay out title options and help draft up a sound legal agreement. Get financial advice and explore the ‘what ifs.’
 

Most importantly, don’t put having this conversation off any longer, stresses Froese.
 

Being in a neutral zone, with no decision reached ‘is a place of high stress and high anxiety.”
 

“If you’re 80, and you’re still hanging on, you have a legacy to pass on. You don’t need to keep hanging on to that yard.”
 

Froese farms near Boissevain with her husband. She travels throughout Canada speaking to farm groups.
 

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