The Duplin County Cattlemen’s Association planned their monthly conversation around farm succession and long-term care in agriculture management.
The cattlemen’s association hosted its monthly meeting at on April 4 at the Lois G. Britt Agribusiness Center in Kenansville. The keynote speaker for the event was Noah Ranells, NC FarmLink director of eastern North Carolina.
The association is a progressive group of cattlemen from Duplin and surrounding counties. Its mission is to encourage and support educational programs, training, and production, and business practices that will improve the cattle industry and its members. Unlike most associations, the cattlemen's organization is run mostly by women.
“We get together monthly and try to find different points of interests that will educate us on different concerns and to help us gain more knowledge on being a cattle farmer,” Vice President Jaclyn Futreal said.
The association's executive team believes that the group is important because it is a great resource for many things, from starting a cattle farm to learning about new rules and regulations.
“You find out quickly what is going on in the industry. Like right now the dairy cows have been infested with the Avian Bird Flu and Anaplasmosis, and if things are coming your way, you need to be aware of it, and this is one great way to get that information,” Secretary and Treasurer Vicki Baker said.
“We try to have a variety of different speakers to come." adviser Jessica Hall explained. "So we have NC State Extension specialists come. We have local large animal vets come speak to us, and we have some other industry partners like seed reps and insurance agents that come too.
"The makeup of our group has changed a bit over the years. It’s a really diverse group now because we also have some college students from James Sprunt and UMO that come also. It’s just a great group of friends. We feel more like family than friends,” Hall said.
After a brief reception, Ranells discussed farm succession, which, according to Hall, was highly requested by the members of the association. In his presentation, Ranells gave tips about planning ahead for a smooth succession, which involves making decisions and considering options for retirement. According to Ranells it is never too late to start.
“They have to consider lots of options with their farms that they put in all that work for all those years. Whether it’s family issues or business issues, they come together when it comes to farm succession,” he explained.
Ranells also spoke about how important it is to be prepared for things that may happen that people are not prepared for, like sickness, divorce or death.
“In many businesses the process is, not that people plan on failing, they have a Plan B if things go south," he said. "Farmers are best to be prepared for those unexpected moments, and then with all the time that farmers have put into building their operations, of course they want to maintain as much of the value and assets as they can."
He told the attendees that it was up to them what they wanted to do with their farm and assets but to remember that sometimes it’s more important to be fair than equal.
The NC Cooperative Extension and FarmLink has been a great resource for farmers and other agricultural professionals over the years. As a certified farm succession coordinator, Ranells said they offer free consultations for succession, farm lease templates, business setup consulting, webinars and much more. They also offer a farmland matching database that allows farmers who do not have heirs to set up a profile to market their farm to buyers or leasers.
“We, as the staff of NC FarmLink, get more involved. We want to make sure farm land stays farm land. So we will go the extra mile if it’s a big operation with lots of acreage to find a suitable buyer,” Ranells said.
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