Passing a farm or ranch to the next generation takes more than a will.
In this five-part series from the Center for Agricultural Profitability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Extension agricultural economists Anastasia Meyer and Jessica Groskopf walk through the pieces of a strong succession plan and how they fit together: business planning, estate planning, sunset planning and the conversations that hold it all together.
Meyer and Groskopf lead the Nebraska Land Link program, and the series draws on their work helping farm and ranch families prepare for the transfer of management, ownership and labor from one generation to the next. Whether you have signed legal documents already or you have never started, each episode lays out the questions to ask and the tradeoffs to weigh for your operation.
The mini series was produced and hosted by Lexi Bodlak, Nebraska Land Link Program Intern. Audio is taken from a webinar held prior the June 2026 Returning to the Farm or Ranch workshop.
Find resources for farm and ranch transition and estate planning on the Center for Agricultural Profitability's website, https://cap.unl.edu/succession.
Episodes
Building a Farm Success Plan #1: Where to Start
Succession planning often begins with a legal document, but that document is only one piece of a much larger process. In the first episode of this five-part Nebraska FARMcast series on building a farm succession plan, Anastasia Meyer, Extension agricultural economist with the Center for Agricultural Profitability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, explains why a good plan is really a transition plan, one that unfolds over three to five years or more. She covers the conversations families need to have, the fears both generations bring to the table, and the team of professionals, from an ag-focused attorney to a tax adviser and lender, that a farm or ranch family should assemble before making decisions.
Building a Farm Succession Plan #2: Business Planning and Family Meetings
Before a farm or ranch moves to the next generation, families have to answer a hard question: is the operation viable enough to support another household? In this episode of the five-part Nebraska FARMcast series on building a farm succession plan, Anastasia Meyer, Extension agricultural economist with the Center for Agricultural Profitability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, walks through business planning and the family meetings that make a transition work. She covers how to talk openly about financials and debt, who to invite to the table, and the ground rules that keep those conversations productive when the subject matter gets personal. Produced and hosted by Lexi Bodlak, Nebraska Land Link Program Intern.
Building a Farm Succession Plan #3: Transferring Management
A farm can pass to the next generation on paper long before the next generation is ready to run it, and that gap is where transitions break down. In this episode of the five-part Nebraska FARMcast series on building a farm succession plan, Anastasia Meyer, Extension agricultural economist with the Center for Agricultural Profitability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, breaks succession into three parts: labor, management and ownership. She explains why management is the hardest piece to hand off and the easiest to skip, and how bringing an heir into bank meetings, insurance meetings and smaller decisions early builds the experience they'll need before ownership ever changes hands.
Building a Farm Succession Plan #4: Sunset Planning
Most farmers and ranchers never plan to fully retire, which is why Jessica Groskopf calls this stage sunset planning rather than retirement. In the final episode of the five-part Nebraska FARMcast series on building a farm succession plan, Groskopf, Extension agricultural economist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, looks at what it takes to shift from owner-operator to owner. She covers the financial questions to work through with an ag-savvy financial adviser, why long-term care is one of the biggest concerns families face, and how renting out land in retirement can affect Social Security benefits.
Building a Farm Succession Plan #5: The Four Legal Documents
An estate plan tells the government what you want done at your death, but it does not teach anyone how to run a farm, and that gap is where many families get stuck. In this episode of the five-part Nebraska FARMcast series on building a farm succession plan, Jessica Groskopf, Extension agricultural economist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, breaks down the four documents at the heart of an estate plan: a will, a power of attorney, a health care power of attorney and a living will. She explains probate, how a trust can help you avoid it, and why beneficiary designations and property titling deserve a careful review.