Just a few generations ago, the question of farm transfer and the fate of family farmland – a complex and often divisive issue today – was a much simpler matter, says Cindy Madsen, who operates Madsen Stock Farm with her husband and son near Audubon.

 “In the past, the farm automatically got passed down to the children, who inherited everything and were all involved in the farm,” Cindy says. “Now there are more obstacles. Today when a farmer retires, one child might be involved in the farm while the others aren’t interested. In some cases, the children who move away might have other careers but are still emotionally invested in the farm, while other people have children who couldn’t care less about the farm.”

 When it comes time to transferring the land, she says these scenarios can lead to rivalries between parents and siblings, and disputes over what’s fair to all. “I’ve heard of cases where one child wants to keep farming while the others want the money from selling the farm – and the farming child doesn’t have the resources to purchase the land.

“But fairness issues go the other way too. In our case, we charge our farming son the same cash rent we have to pay because we want to be fair to the two sons who aren’t farming. If we gave the farming son a discount, that would lessen the inheritance for the other two.”

 Learn about important farm transition topics you should consider, strategies for starting family dialogue, techniques for expressing your hopes for your farm’s future, and the key role landowners can play when there’s no family to transfer the farm to at Practical Farmers of Iowa’s 2015 annual conference, “Mapping Our Future,” Jan. 23-24 at the Iowa State Center Scheman Building, on the Iowa State University campus in Ames. All are welcome to attend.