“The farm transition planning workshop was time well spent, as it helped us identify the actions required to ensure the best possible transition for our farm business,”
Jim Ekstrom and Family, 2019 Farm Transition Planning Workshop Participants

Planning for the future of your farm ensures that you make the decision about what that future will be. Will you pass it on to your children, sell it to a long-standing employee or something else? 64% of farmland in Oregon is expected to change hands in the next 20 years, yet over 80% of Oregon farmers haven’t developed a farm transition plan.

EMSWCD understands the importance of farm transition planning in ensuring a future for agriculture. We collaborated with the Clackamas Small Business Development Center in 2018, 2019 and 2020 to offer a no-cost workshop series with a leading farm transition planning expert. We hope this collection of transition planning resources linked below will also be helpful.

Ongoing Farm and Ranch Transition Planning Training / Workshops

• The Clackamas Small Business Development Center offers an in-depth workshop series that includes one-on-one counseling to help develop a farm transition plan: Farm and Ranch Succession Planning Program.
• Rogue Farm Corps offers a regular workshop series.
• Oregon State University’s Ties to the Land program offers a regular workshop series.
• Oregon State University’s Center for Family Enterprise offers learning opportunities and courses on family business planning, including transition.
• Oregon State University’s free online handbook, Getting Organized: Business Organization and Succession Planning for Oregon Family Farms and Ranches, teaches you how to lay a strong but flexible legal foundation for your family and business to grow through on-demand content.

General Resources Sites

The websites linked below provide various farm transition planning resources.

• Rogue Farm Corps provides a list of Oregon and US resources here.
• Beginning Farmers offers a helpful resource list here.
• The Agrarian Trust has a page with links to farm transfer guides, stories and other resources here.
• Land for Good has developed a short list of resources.
• Iowa State University Extension and Outreach provides numerous templates and guides to the farm transition planning process here.

Advisor Search

• OSU provides a list of family business advisor professionals here.