Play Helps Farmers Talk About Succession Planning

May 05, 2016

By Tracy Daugherty

University of Missouri Extension will present a free play to help farmers talk about succession planning, 7-9 p.m. Friday, June 10, at the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center at Chillicothe High School.

“Map of My Kingdom” gives members of farming communities a look at the difficult process of transferring farmland from one generation to the next, says MU Extension community development specialist Tracy Daugherty.

The play, written by Iowa poet laureate Mary Swander, tackles the sensitive issue of preserving farm family legacies.

MU Extension agriculture business specialist Joe Koenen will introduce the one-hour play. A panel discussion will be held after the play. Participants include attorneys and MU Extension specialists.

The succession planning process helps the next generation run the farm, Daugherty says. Most successful plans develop over time to minimize tax burdens, protect assets and maintain successful family relationships, she says.

Chillicothe High School is at 2801 Hornet Road, Chillicothe.

According to USDA, the average of age of farmers is over 58 and more than 10 percent of farmland is expected to change ownership in the next five years.

Source:missouri.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.