We can't forget that this is an important milestone, it’s a cultural milestone within a family. Many other cultural milestones - like weddings, funerals - they’re honoured. There’s a celebration that comes with it. And this is another one, but it’s not always recorded. So I make this suggestion to people - mark the milestone, create something. What are the old photos? What are the old sayings, from the cultural leaders of your group? Sayings, pictures, relics, memories - they’re important to collect, document, record.

There’s several different types of competencies, or professions, that you want to be involved in the farm succession process. People that help you explore the ‘many paths’. The farm succession process is usually a multidisciplinary model: many disciplines coming together, assisting a group of people - a farming business - progress the farming asset from one generation to the next.

“I've been a participant of a farm succession process, with a big farming family, which I married into. The family farm was being migrated from one generation to the next. It was a long but rewarding process, and it needed a lot of detail, and talking, because it was a big group. There were many people involved. There was a series of meetings, and we had a meeting facilitator. That was important, and helpful.

What does the farm succession planning process look like, and what is involved? It’s not always a clear linear path, and sometimes it makes sense to do some things before others. For example it is preferable to clarify personal and family issues and goals before attempting to finalise financial planning, business structures and inheritance. There is a list of considerations that we like to work through. Let’s go a bit deeper into what’s involved in the broader succession process:

At MediatingWorks we use a model developed by Harvard University in which each session is viewed through seven distinct elements which are common to all negotiations:

What are the seven elements? Let’s explore.

Mediation is a facilitated negotiation between two or more parties with the mediator managing the negotiation process. The mediator uses a combination of individual sessions initially and later joint sessions to facilitate discussion between the parties in order to arrive at a resolution. The mediator is a process manager and directs the parties to explore several steps, to get to (hopefully!) a desired outcome for all parties.

MediatingWorks is uniquely placed to work with farming families looking to transition ownership of the farm, because of Gregory Dale’s distinct experience across psychology, counselling, mediation and negotiation. He is also a farmer, who has been through the farm succession process himself.