Farm succession workshop in Scone

A FREE farm succession workshop will be held at the Scone RSL Club next Friday from 9 am to 3 pm, to assist landholders who are thinking about retiring or passing the farm to the next generation. 

Event hosts Lyn Skyes, Succession Planning Facilitator and Kathy Sims, Chief Executive Officer of RuralBiz Training, Certified Public Accountant, and former Rural Financial Counsellor will be showing farming families how to build a successful succession plan.

The pair have more than thirty years of succession planning experience between them and will be covering topics such as Centrelink concessions for farmers, accounting and legal issues and family communication.

Ms Sims said families who want to address succession or retirement issues often don’t know how bring them up without causing  friction.

“The biggest issue in succession planning is communication and Lyn is a very well-known speaker on issues around succession planning and family communication,” Ms Sims said.

“Lyn and I have been working in succession for the last 30 years, so it’s not our first rodeo either. We’re able to put a lot of issues out that other families have experienced,” she said.

“Even though some of the issues can be fairly complex, there are down to earth measures for dealing with them,” she said.

“People walk away knowing their own situation is not unique, that most families are dealing with issues that are common to any rural families. There is some comfort in that other people have been through the same thing and come out fine,” said Ms Sims.

Ms Sims said during drought, families have focused on surviving and may not have a plan for the future, so it would be beneficial to have multiple family members attend the workshop.

“Certainly having two generations there is quite useful, because it means people are hearing the information themselves rather than depending one someone to interpret and bring the information back to them,” Ms Sims said.

“Often just getting the information at a succession planning workshop allows people to start understanding that succession issues are not insurmountable, there are ways of going forward and ways of developing a plan for their futures,” she said.

“There are no textbook solutions, each family will develop their own plan with their own advises,” she said.

“If people are prepared to move along through a sequence, they will find something that suits their family and farm business,” said Ms Sims.

To register for the free event, click here. 

Farm succession workshop details

When: Friday, April 30 from 9 am to 3 pm;

Where: Scone RSL Club, 71 Guernsey Street, Scone;

Cost: Free.