For a lot of farm families, the in-laws quickly become the outlaws due to factors you’d never consider.

After a decade of sorting out the direst farm succession and farm debt cases, I have found that dysfunctional in-law relationships are often a key underlying ingredient to these problems. Really good families are hit by landmines of the in-law kind, and everything explodes. If these families knew what those landmines were before they stepped into them, they would have been able to avoid them.

There are a lot of farmers in their 30s and 40s who don’t know what their future looks like.  The truth be told: 77% of farms don't have a succession plan. And this obviously has a lot to do with why only 12% of farms pass onto the third generation!

Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing on your farm?  
The truth is: On a lot of farms, partners couldn’t tell you what their other partners are planning on doing the next day.

Growing up, the only way she could get time with dad was by being in the barn. The only way she could gain his attention was by working hard on the farm and “being of use.”

Just last month, Paul’s 9-year-old son held a knife to his throat, screaming he was going to commit suicide. This wasn’t the first time this had happened either – it was the fourth time in just a few months.

Many inherit a fiddle in their grandfather’s will. Few know how to play it like a rockstar. I’m teaching my 3-year-old how to play the fiddle. Theoretically, that sounds great, but let me tell you, it doesn’t sound that great.