MANTORVILLE, Minn. — In Minnesota, the average farm operator's age in 2012 was 56.6. In Iowa, that number was 57.1.
That means significant farmland will soon be transitioned on from its original owners — 93 million acres in the country between 2015 and 2019, according to the USDA Economic Research Service.
It seems simple on the surface, but there's more complexity than many would like to admit.
Teresa Opheim, of Practical Farmers of Iowa, asked Iowa Poet Laureate and Iowa State University Distinguished Professor Mary Swander to address the issue in a commissioned play in 2014. The result is "Map of My Kingdom," a one-actress play that will be performed Nov. 13 at Mantorville Opera House, hosted by Renewing the Countryside.
"It's hard to talk about the things that matter most," Opheim said. "The land has been in the same family for many generations, and people __have a strong attachment to it. You're dealing with family relationships, too. That's why we commissioned this play, because we thought it would help people start a conversation about farm transitions."
In the play, farm mediator Angela Martin muses on several difficult instances of farm transition, stories Swander came up with after spending a semester interviewing farm families. Some don't go so well, but the play ends happily.
"The farmers who make good transitions, which are mentioned in the play, give a lot of thought to the issue before it becomes a crisis," Swander said.
Swander has firsthand experience with farm transition. She inherited her family's century farm at 23 with her two brothers because of a tragedy.
"We were woefully unprepared," she said. "It was very difficult and blew up the family for awhile."
One of Swander's goals for the play is to start the conversation and bring up resources farmers can turn to before a crisis hits. For instance, she cited that from time to time, attendees will express surprise that farmland transition mediators are available.
Attorney Susan Stokes, who practices law with play sponsor Hellmuth & Johnson PLLC of Minneapolis, works specifically in farm transition planning and pulling together all the legal pieces of it.
"Farmers need business advice, estate planning, someone who understands agriculture," Stokes said. "We've built a multi-specialty integrated farm practice. Transitioning a farm is not the same as transitioning a house or any other business because of the emotional attachment to the land. People who are advising them need to understand the nuances of that."
Stokes and her partner at the firm, Terrance Moore, want to ensure that transitioning farmers can match their vision for their farms' future.
"There are three key questions farmers need to ask: what do they want, what can the farm support financially, and the legal aspects of how to achieve what you want," Moore said. "You can think creatively how to legally get done what you want to get done."
The play brings out the family drama that farm transfer can incur. In her work with PFI, Opheim has spoken with several farm families with multiple heirs and who are confused about what to do. They wonder if the children who don't return to farm should receive the same financial consideration as those who do.
"If you're a farmland owner, you need to decide what your goals are," Opheim said. "It's a good idea to spend time thinking about that before you get into legal and financial strategies that may not be what you intended."
One of her success stories is the Frantzen family of Chickasaw County, Iowa. They __have decided to transfer their farmland to PFI upon the deaths of parents Tom and Irene Frantzen. They have a clear plan worked out for what their son James and two daughters will receive.
They’re willing to address and talk about this, mortality and the difficult issues in farm transfer. They realize you have to address it through options like life insurance or retirement accounts, because you will often have 80 percent to 90 percent of farm assets tied up in the land, Opheim said of the Frantzens.
Opheim is the editor of a new book, "The Future of Family Farms: Practical Farmers' Legacy Letter Project." It's filled with a compilation of farmers' stories about their land and what it means to them. It has been published by University of Iowa Press.
Both Opheim and Swander find storytelling like a play to be an effective way to connect with people.
"A play is a social event where families come and they can engage with their communities and each other," Swander said. "Some have never attended a play before, and when they get there, they say, ‘Wow, this is all about me.’ It’s a way to emotionally draw people into the topic. The hope is that many more landowners will be touched by the play and motivated to get their plans in motion.”
