Press Release: VCE Offers Farm Transition Workshop
Virginia Cooperative Extension will hold an interactive workshop on transitioning farm ownership Monday, Feb. 20, with speaker Dick Wittman. (Photo Credit: licensed image)
Jan. 4, 2023
Virginia Cooperative Extension
With most farms in Virginia being family owned and operated, it is very important to take the time to discuss the future. Virginia Cooperative Extension invites farmers to participate in an interactive workshop Monday, Feb. 20, at the Brandy Station Volunteer Fire Department in Culpeper County with Dick Wittman of Wittman Consulting. Wittman has worked for Farm Credit Administration, successfully managed and transitioned his family’s multi-generational farm, helped family farm businesses as a consultant for three decades and authored a guidebook titled Building Effective Farm Management Systems.
The workshop will be of interest for farm owners who are facing many different scenarios when it comes to transition. Some farms hope to transition ownership and management to next-generation successors. But what if the successors have limited or no capital and want to work on the farm, hoping to assume ownership later? How do you as owners “get out of the way" but not “go away?" What if your successors don't want to work on the farm, but they don't want you to sell their heritage?
Come prepared to look at transition strategies that can be adapted to a multitude of scenarios. A case study workshop will immerse participants in real-world transition scenarios that will provide take-home experience and build confidence in how to move forward.
Registration can be completed online at https://tinyurl.com/2023vafarmtransition. The cost for one attendee is $35 and additional family members or business partners are $10 per person. This full-day workshop will start with registration at 8 a.m. and end at approximately 3 p.m.
For more information, contact Crysti Hopkins at (540) 967-3422 or hcrysti2@vt.edu, or Rachel Henley at (804) 598-5640 or rachelhenley@vt.edu.