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t ! Durham Agri -News By John E. Finlay Agricultural Representative LOCAL DAIRY BREED ASSOCIATIONS TO MEET The Durham Countv Hol- steins Club will hold their annual banquet and dance at Maple Grove United Church on Friday, December 2, 1983. Guest speaker will be former agricultural representative, Dal Dalrymple. Also, the Holstein Club will hold their annual meeting in the boardroom of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food on Wednesday, December 7th at 10:30 a .m. The Big 4 Guernsey Club hold their annual meeting on Friday, December 2, 1983 at the Rock Haven Motor Hotel, Peterborough. All dairy breeders are encouraged to attend their respective breed functions. FARM FAMILY TRANSFERS Question: I am mad. My 30 year old brother is doing his best to lose the farm that has been in our family for over 100 years. I am afraid, too, that this is going to kill our father. He looks terrible. Dad sold the farm and dairy herd to my brother six years ago. Almost immediately by brother built a new barn and silos. The others were not good enough for him. Just recently he sold the dairy herd and quota. That should pay off part of his debts but what is he going to do with a dairy barn, pipelines, coolers and silos if he has no cows. Dad had spent a lifetime lifetime building up that dairy herd and was so proud of it. The day of the sale was a bad one for him. I know that this same thing has happened in other families. Is there not something that can be done to prevent sons from squandering the farms that they secure from their fathers? ANSWER By H.G. Norry, P. Ag. Farm Business Advisor, London I sympathize with you and your father and mother and also with your brother who may be losing the farm. He likely feels worse than anyone else. He made mistakes and, hopefully, regrets them. How could they have been avoided? Was he properly trained? It is very, very difficult for a father and mother to decide when and how to transfer the responsibility and the ownership of their farming business to their offspring. Every situation is different. The right decision in.one case is the wrong one in another. The right decision when dealing with one son or daughter might be the wrong one when dealing with another in the same family. There are dozens of cases such as yours where problems have resulted from the transfer transfer of responsibility and ownership too early. And there are other cases where potentially good farmers have grown old and tired and withered before their parents entrusted them with the farm. The transfer of responsibility responsibility and ownership should happen gradually over a period of years. When a parent explains to an eight year old, "This is the way to do this job. From here on you're in charge of it," the transfer of responsibility responsibility has commenced. To some extent we all learn to do by doing. We learn from our mistakes. Farming is now so complicated that this method of learning is too slow and too costly. We must leam from the mistakes of others. That's why we go to school and college. That's why we read and attend educational meetings. That's why parents try to train their children; why they point out the results of good or bad decisions that others have made. Often children do not like the coaching of their parents. The blame for this may be on either side or both. Even though advice is rejected it is wise for parents to continually continually provide training opportunities opportunities for children. The 25 year old who had made decisions for years is less apt to make bad decisions than is the one who has never been allowed to make decisions relative to the farming business. If the son or daughter is to take over the management of the family business, it is to the advantage of the parent to train him well. The transferring of ownership of farming assets does not have to happen all at ' one time when the son or daughter is ready to start farming. This too can and should, take place over a period of years. On a livestock farm, the junior member can start by buying some livestock and parents can continue to own the remainder. Ownership of more livestock, machinery, quota and real estate can gradually be acquired over a period of years. Taxes on certain capital gains and recapture of depreciation can be deferred when assets are transferred from a parent to a child. They cannot be deferred when the same assets are transferred from child to a parent. To defer these taxes, the parents must sell the assets for less than their full value. He is then partially gifting them. If you sell something or give it away, you do not still control it. At Sunday School we heard of the Golden Rule. There is a second golden rule that is applicable to farming: "He who has the gold, makes the rules." It is wise for parents to keep this in mind when thinking of immediately getting rid of all their farming assets. It is a mistake for parents to try to keep control of the farming business for too long. Young people have to do their thing. But they don't necessarily have to start out where parents left off. A Few Suggestions: -- Start early to train children to make business decisions. -- Give them a piece of the action early. -- Encourage them to buy chattels or a farm of their own. -- Give them the opportunity to manage part or all of the business. -- Be slower in transferring those assets where big gifts will be necessary to minimize taxes. (Quota and land that has been owned for many years fall in this class.) -- Sell everything to the children and suggest that they borrow money from another source to pay you. -- Put a mortgage on the land that they own to cover the money that they owe you. We should keep in mind that most transfers of family farms turn out well with both parents and children happier as a result. Many problems are the result of young people trying to run when no one had taught them how to walk. Celebrated Her First Birthday 2 RIB ENDS, 2 LOIN ENDS, 4 CENTRE CUT CHOPS Loin Pork Chops OUR REGULAR PRICE 5.05/kg-2.29 lb PROD. OF ONTARIO Fresh Mushrooms SUPER BUY! a\'/^ pkg colour circular mailed s week to the homes in your area! we reserve tne right to limit quammes to normal mmuy requirements!