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Making a succession plan for a farm business is not a sign of weakness, Omagh accountant Seamus McCaffrey told delegates at a conference in Co Down on Saturday.
Speaking at a Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU) event near Comber, McCaffrey said banks are increasingly asking about succession plans when farmers are looking to borrow money.
“Succession planning is not retirement. It is a process of ensuring continuity of a business by protecting and enhancing it as it passes onto the next generation,” he said.
“It is not a sign of weakness. It is a positive thing to do.”
Discussion
His advice was to have an open discussion with everyone involved with an initial step being to add the successor’s name to the farm business ID, bank account and herd number.
A crucial part of the process is to make a will which is reviewed every three years and includes two executors who understand agriculture and are younger than the farm owner, McCaffrey said.
He also encourages farmers to think about pension planning so that they have some financial independence if the business is taken over by a son or daughter.
Sickness
McCaffrey said farmers should plan for all eventualities by making a power of attorney. This is a legal document which appoints someone to look after a person’s affairs if they become incapacitated through illness.
More coverage from the YFCU conference will feature in next week’s NI edition of the Irish Farmers Journal and on www.farmersjournal.ie
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