Cultivating a Legacy: Exploring Inheritance and Succession Planning Strategies on Intergenerational Family Farms in Rural Georgia

While the majority of farms in the United States are family-owned and operated, the number of all (family and nonfamily) farms, the number of family farms, and the proportion of farms that are family-owned continue to decline nationwide. This trend affects the economic and social makeup of rural communities and fundamentally shifts the agricultural landscape in the United States. Succession, or the process of selecting and educating a younger family member or members in preparation to inherit the farm, is a key factor in the continuance of intergenerational family farms. This project studies the succession process on family farms in rural Georgia which have remained owned and operated by the same family for at least two generations. Using qualitative data collected from eleven semi-structured interviews with intergenerational family farmers in the state of Georgia, this study explores family farmers' process of taking on responsibility on their family farms and how these same farmers structure their approach to planning to pass the farm on to the next generation. The study first finds that at each step of the succession process, familial support is crucial to supporting farming as a career. The study further finds that family farmers' own complicated emotional relationship to farming, as well as family farmers' dual roles as parents and farmers, introduce contradictory strategies in each farmer's approach to the succession process. These contradictory strategies, in addition to considerations about gender norms, aptitude for farming, and maturity of potential heirs, can destabilize farmers' confidence regarding the prospect of passing down the family farm at any stage of that process.