Tama Farmer • Tama County • 2026-03-28
My dad (72) wants to start transitioning the operation to me and my sister. We farm 1,100 acres owned/rented. Looking at options — land trust, LLC, installment sale, gift deed. It's complicated because my sister isn't actively farming but wants to keep her share. Anyone been through this recently? ISU Extension has a workshop but it's 6 hours away.
We used an ag attorney and a farm financial planner together. Cost about $6,500 total but worth every penny. The attorney was critical for the trust structure. Practical Farmers of Iowa has a referral list of Iowa ag attorneys.
ISU Extension Ag Decision Maker has free succession planning worksheets at extension.iastate.edu. Also check Ag Decision Maker file C4-50 through C4-56 — they're specifically for Iowa farm transitions.
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