There is no season as hard as succession. More than 75 per cent of Canadian farms will change hands over the next decade, according to Farm Management Canada. But for those aged 60-plus, they would rather face machinery breakdowns and mud than a mug of coffee to talk about farm transition.
“We’re not a very good success story on that front,” says Boyd Rose, president of East Point Potatoes, and one of the owners of R.A. Rose & Sons, Souris, Prince Edward Island. The 62-year-old does not have retirement in his vocabulary: “I’ll likely work until I die.”
The family operations, involving a brother, nephews and daughters, are highly respected in the agricultural industry. They started talking about a succession plan about five years ago, but life events such as physical injury and off-farm opportunities keep turning the plans upside down. Perhaps the biggest challenge is how to integrate daughters into the plan when they are mothers with toddlers. These well-educated women have capability and what’s more, desire, to be business managers.
The complexity of family farm businesses is also played out in Ontario for Schenck Farms and Greenhouse Co Ltd., known for grape growing and floral greenhouse operations in St. Catharines. Bill Schenck works with his brother and other family members at this business. He’s counted 43 harvests, some bountiful, some not.
“As I get older, I like to observe and mentor the next generation,” he says. “Every year is different and the 2022 season with its winterkill of a large percentage of the vineyard meant that my experience was useful in transferring knowledge.”
His son Brian has benefitted from that guidance, working full-time in the vineyard since 2015 and building on his summer experiences as far back as 2008. The farm has grown less tree fruit during those years and is now focussed on 100 acres of grapes.
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