Van der Hoeven and Branan Team Up for Farm Succession Series

Agriculture and Resource Economics Faculty Guido van der Hoeven and Andrew Branan recently completed a series of workshops and educational consults for Green Fields Sandhills, a 501(c)3 with the mission to promote and support agriculture in Lee, Moore and Richmond counties, and supported by organizational partner Sandhills Area Land Trust.  The farm succession series, which was funded by the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission and organized by Page Burns, Richmond County Horticulture Extension Agent , consisted of three workshops in each of Moore County (March 3), Lee County (March 6) and Richmond County (March 15).  The interactive workshops served as delivery format for Andrew and Guido’s years of experience with the legal tools, tax issues, and family dynamics of farm and forest asset transfer planning.  Guido and Andrew followed the workshops with private individual education sessions in each county with landowners and farmers who participated in the series.  “The one-on-one education format,” says Branan, “seems to add value to the series for participants, as individuals and family units have more time to address their individual fact situations and raise issues few feel comfortable discussing in a group class setting.”  In addition, Branan adapted his workbook Planning the Future of Your Farm to support the presentations, and is currently adapting it as a publication of NC Cooperative Extension.  Branan and van der Hoeven plan to continue and further develop such series across North Carolina.