Land Transfer & Successional Planning Resources

Business Planning Tools

• Business Plan –  (PA FarmLink) An example of what to include in a business plan.
• Operating Agreement – (PA FarmLink) This is often used as an intermediate arrangement between a wage arrangement and a partnership or corporation.
• Professional Checklist – (PA FarmLink) What you need when you meet with professionals.
• Computing a Cropland Cash Rental Rate – (Iowa State University Extension, 2009) This document explains how to determine what to charge for renting cropland, and illustrates examples for calculating rental rates.
• The Farmers Guide to Agricultural Credit – (Rural Advancement Foundation International, 2006) This extensive guide provides answers to questions about agricultural credit and financing.
• Managing Prosperity: Estate and Retirement Planning for All Ages- Planning for Long-Term Health Care – (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2009) This publication from Virginia Cooperative Extension covers planning for long-term health care, including Medicaid eligibility, exemption and disqualification; and long-term care insurance.
• Managing Prosperity: Estate and Retirement Planning for All Ages- Powers of Attorney – (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2009) This publication from Virginia Cooperative Extension examines the importance of establishing power of attorney as part of any estate planning effort.
• Toolbox for Leasing Farmland – (Land For Good) A host of resources if leasing is the best option for you. Tools for both short-term and long-term lease agreements. Includes lease templates
• USDA New Farmers –  Business planning and technical assistance for new and historically excluded and underserved farmers, including women and veterans.
• Enterprise for Equity Agri-preneur – Business planning program and micro-loans.
• Thurston Economic Development Council – Business planning and advising.

Financing Information

• Farm Service Agency – find your local USDA service center to connect with local FSA staff who can help you navigate the world of farm loans and grant programs
• Farm Loan Discovery Tool – from USDA’s farmers.gov website
• Farmland Access Financial Decision-Making Tool – from the Minnesota-based Land Stewardship Project
• USDA EQIP Advanced Payment Option for Historically Underserved Farmers – The EQIP advance payment option limits out-of-pocket conservation costs for historically underserved producers. The option provides at least 50 percent of the contracted payment for each conservation practice up front, before the practice is implemented, to purchase materials or contract services. This is funding for technical assistance and implementation, not land procurement. 

Finding Farmland

• NYFC Finding Farmland scenario calculator
• NYFC Land and Jobs Database
• USA & Canada Land Link Programs Contact Spreadsheet – A spreadsheet of land matching programs throughout the USA & Canada
• Farm to Farmer – Washington Farmland Trust’s farm-matching program
• Washington FarmLink – Connecting farmers and landowners in Washington State.
• Methow Grown – Farmland opportunities in the Methow Valley.

Succession Planning Tools

• Planning The Future Of Your Farm  – A  workbook for farmers who want to transfer their operation to the next generation and/or keep it in production. *Spanish Language copies available upon request*
• Successful Farm and Ranch Transitions – From the Center for Rural Affairs

Legal Issues and Structures

• Farm Rental Agreement Checklist– (Ohio State University Extension, 2001) This document provides a good, brief list about the provisions that should go into a farm rental agreement.
• Lease Agreement Guide for Landowners and Farmers – (University of Vermont Extension, 2002) This is a clear guide to lease agreements, and includes easy-to-understand steps and considerations for both parties in lease agreements.
• Managing Prosperity: Estate and Retirement Planning for All Ages- Advance Medical Directives – (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2009) This publication from Virginia Cooperative Extension outlines advanced medical directives (also known as “living wills”), and includes suggestions for drafting these directives in Virginia.
• Managing Prosperity: Estate and Retirement Planning for All Ages- An Introduction to Trusts – (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2009) This publication from Virginia Cooperative Extension provides an overview of trusts, and how and why these trusts should be used.
• Managing Prosperity: Estate and Retirement Planning for All Ages- Love, Marriage and Divorce – (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2009) This publication from Virginia Cooperative Extension provides an overview of the rights of spouses in property upon divorce, and how to take the possibility of divorce into consideration when developing a farm transition strategy.
• Managing Prosperity: Estate and Retirement Planning for All Ages- Rights of Surviving Spouses and Children –(Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2009) This publication from Virginia Cooperative Extension outlines the rights that surviving spouses and children have in Virginia when they perceive that the deceased failed to adequately provide for them.
• Ownership Structures for Your Farm or Ranch: Some Basic Considerations – (University of Nebraska, Lincoln & Center for Rural Affairs) This document describes the various ownership structures used to manage a farm business operation.
• Risk Management Checklist – (USDA Risk Management Agency) This document provides information to farmers to help them evaluation their exposure to risk.