UI Extension surveying Eastern Idaho farmers to improve succession planning workshops

University of Idaho Extension is recruiting Eastern Idaho farmers to take an online survey that will guide the format, content, frequency and locations of future succession planning workshops.

UI Extension has hosted these workshops for several years to help farmers begin what is often a difficult discussion with family about how to best pass their assets to the next generation.

The survey, which will remain open through the end of the year, includes 15 questions seeking feedback to make succession planning as relevant as possible for participants. It also asks producers to share hurdles that have slowed or stopped their own planning efforts.

The average age of an Idaho farmer is 56.6 years old, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture — a reminder that many producers are nearing a point where they need to make key decisions about the future of their operations.

“The goal of the ranch succession workshops is not for them to walk out with a finalized plan but to know how to start the conversation and what they need to do before they start a conversation with an accountant or lawyer and get them started down the road,” said Shannon Williams, a UI Extension educator based in Lemhi County who is part of the succession planning team. “That communication piece is the foundation of everything.”

Having participated with family members in a UI Extension succession planning workshop in Franklin County in 2020, fourth-generation Swan Lake farmer Glen Merrill has the peace of mind of knowing his 2,550-acre farm and ranch should remain intact for generations to come. Merrill, 67, recommends the UI Extension succession planning workshops to any farmer who hasn’t begun to prepare for the future.

“You have to do this while you can, and it doesn’t happen overnight,” Merrill said. “If you do nothing, then you are in trouble.”

Merrill and his wife, Julia, have three sons and two daughters. They’ll pass the farm down to the family of their youngest daughter, Melanie Larson, whose husband, Aaron, has been a partner on the farm for the past 13 years.