According to the USDA, 17 percent of principal farm operators plan to retire in the next five years.

Another 53 percent of operators do not plan to retire and 30 percent don’t know. Succession planning is an activity people do not like to think about or put off until “tomorrow.”

Generally, people due this due to lumping succession planning and estate planning into the same bucket. But they are separate buckets. Succession planning is the gradual transfer of ownership, control and participation of the business — a plan of how the farm operation will be passed onto the next generation.

Estate planning, on the other hand, is triggered by the owner or operator’s death.

There are three main reasons why people tend to avoid succession planning: fair vs. equal, forming a distribution plan, and wanting to avoid conflict.

As a general rule though, avoidance just increases conflict and there are rarely happy endings. Rather than thinking of this as a dreaded task, ask yourself: Am I going to retire (or would like to) in the coming years?

If it’s a yes, what’s going to happen to the farm operation?

Out of the 17 percent of operators who are planning on retiring, 53 percent don’t have a succession plan. Maybe retirement isn’t on the horizon, but who’s the successor if something happens to you?

If succession planning is something you’ve put off until “tomorrow” then plan on attending ‘Preparing for Farm Succession Planning’ at Wurdack Extension and Research Farm in Cook Station on March 6, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Improving communication, farming a transition plan, making decisions during short-term crises, and navigating roles will all be discussed. You can register by calling Washington County Extension at 573-438-2671 or going online at https://extension.missouri.edu/events/preparing-for-farm-succession-planning-1674664023.