Succession Planning
The Regenerator: A Year of Farm Succession Planning
Are you a farmer or rancher planning to retire, and wondering what will happen to your land and business?
Thinking about the future can be difficult. We’re here to help.
What you'll get out of this course
A comprehensive program to generate a plan and support the process of transferring farm ownership and management. Each farm or ranch forms a “planning team” of up to eight people to participate in the yearlong process.
Learn and navigate the succession planning process
Establish and sustain communication among family or business partners
Peer-based learning among businesses in similar circumstances
Upcoming Course Details
The 2023-24 course is full.
The Regenerator: A Year of Farm Succession Planning
Current Session:
November 2023 - October 2024
Location:
Sacramento Region
Duration:
1 year
Cost:
$800
Time:
First Wednesday of each month
Application Deadline:
Applications accepted on a rolling basis
Language:
English
Prerequisite:
Instructors:
Farmers & Ranchers as guest instructors
More About this Course
With the help of skilled professionals, this course will empower your family or business partners to navigate the succession planning process. Your completion of course milestones can result in additional resources - up to $1,600 - to work with professionals, such as attorneys or accountants, to help establish your succession plan.
Regenerator Overview
The Regenerator takes a multi-faceted approach to farm succession planning. Participants will work with their own farm operators, identified successors, and family members to create a personalized succession plan. Monthly meetings will feature in-depth presentations by professionals covering a range of topics including:
- Communication, intention setting, and team-building
- Business valuation, structure, and transition of management
- Retirement, estate, and tax planning
- Farmland conservation planning
- Creative approaches and financing strategies for land & business transfers
Participants will gain an understanding of the essential components of a good farm succession plan, strategies and creative tools to reach goals, and a plan that’s ready to launch. California FarmLink’s intention is to build farmers’ resilience by facilitating plans that will sustain farms and ranches into the next generation.
“For the family, the thing that everyone got out of this was the time and the space and the professionals...what The Regenerator has set us up for is not having to spend X amount of years getting to where the program got us in one year.”
Regenerator Participant
Eligibility
Who should apply?
- If you own a farm or ranch business in California, have an identified successor, and plan to transition ownership within 15 years, this program is for you.
- All active agricultural producers are invited to apply for this program, with the exception of equestrian, cannabis, sod, timber and fishery producers.
- Families already in active transition (such as having major assets listed for sale) are invited to seek resources from FarmLink, but are not candidates for this program.
- The retiring farmer must be the primary applicant, naming at least one successor and one additional family member or stakeholder in the business who has agreed to participate in the program, for a minimum of 3 people per Farm Team.
- Don’t have a successor? Register as a landholder on our Land Portal to connect with a potential successor today!
- FarmLink serves primarily underserved and low and moderate income families. Farmers of color and low resource farmers are encouraged to apply.
- Families and their successors must be willing to travel to Sacramento for occasional in-person training during the program.
During & After the Course
As part of their participation, planning teams will be eligible to receive financial assistance to meet with preferred business professionals to help establish their plan. Upon the completion of course milestones, teams may be eligible to receive a $1,600 subsidy towards service providers of their choosing. The goal is to get the help teams will need to complete their succession plans. In addition to this support, participants benefit from the resources and support of FarmLink staff throughout the program and beyond.
Course Sponsor
This course is generously sponsored by:
