Why the hardest part of farm succession has nothing to do with the numbers, and what to do about it.
Ask most farming families when they plan to sort out succession, and you’ll get a familiar answer: “Soon.” Next season. After harvest. Once the kids are more settled. When things slow down a bit.
It’s not because families don’t care. It’s not even because the legal and financial complexity feels too hard, though it can be. The real reason succession stalls is simpler and more human than that.
Succession feels like an ending.
Handing over a farm, land that in many cases has been worked across generations, that carries the family name and the weight of decades of early mornings and hard decisions, doesn’t feel like planning. It feels like letting go. And so the conversation gets deferred, year after year, until eventually it’s forced by circumstances nobody wanted.
The Cost of Waiting
The numbers on agricultural land values in Australia tell their own story. Farm values across regional NSW have risen sharply, in some cases doubling over the past decade. In practice, this means the asset being transferred is larger, the tax implications are more significant, and the structural decisions involved are harder to unwind once made.
It also means that for the next generation, the sons and daughters who may have spent years working the property with the quiet expectation of one day taking it over, the absence of a plan creates its own pressure. They’re making life decisions without certainty. They can’t access finance. They can’t plan for their own futures.
And for the generation stepping back? Without a plan, retirement isn’t a transition. It’s a cliff.
From Transaction to Transition
That’s exactly the reframe that succession specialist James Benson brings to this conversation. With more than 40 years in business management and financial services, and over 15 years working specifically with farming families across Australia, James has seen firsthand what happens when succession is treated as a legal and financial event to be executed, rather than a human process to be navigated.
His view: the families who get this right are the ones who bring the right advice together early — legal, financial, and accounting — and treat succession as a transition rather than a transaction. They’re the ones who approach succession as a gradual, intentional handover of responsibility, authority and identity, rather than a transaction to be completed and ticked off.
That distinction changes everything about how you approach the conversation.
What Good Succession Actually Looks Like
There’s no single template for farm succession; every family is different, every property is different, and the right structure depends on your specific circumstances. But the families that navigate it well tend to share a few things in common:
- They start earlier than feels necessary. The best time to begin the succession conversation is well before anyone’s ready to step back. Early planning gives you options; late planning often means compromise.
- They separate the conversations. Who runs the farm, who owns the farm, and who benefits from the farm are three different questions, and conflating them is where most succession disputes begin.
- They get the right people in the room. Legal, financial and accounting advice needs to work together. A will alone isn’t a succession plan. A trust structure without a clear family agreement isn’t one either.
- They acknowledge the non-financial stuff. Retirement identity, sibling fairness, the role of spouses, and what happens to family members who didn’t work the land- these aren’t soft issues. They’re the ones that end up in court if they’re not addressed.
- They revisit the plan. Structures put in place 20 years ago may no longer reflect the family, the tax environment, or the farm itself. A plan isn’t a set-and-forget document.
We’re Proud to Support This Conversation
MBC Group Services works with farming families across Central West NSW every day, on tax, on structure, on SMSF and financial planning, and yes, on succession. We’ve seen what a good plan looks like and what happens when one is left too late.
That’s why we’re proud to be a sponsor of an upcoming free workshop that brings this conversation to Forbes, led by one of Australia’s most experienced succession planning facilitators.
If you’re a farming family in the region and succession is something you know you should be thinking about — whether it feels urgent yet or not — this is worth half a day of your time.
| FREE Farm Succession Workshop
“Reframing Succession from Transaction to Transition” Presenter: James Benson Wednesday 29 April 2025 | 8:30 am – 1:00 pm Club Forbes, 41–43 Templar St, Forbes NSW Cost: FREE | Limited to 60 places Register here: Click to reserve your seat |
Spots are strictly limited to 60, and events like this fill fast. If you’d like to talk to our team before or after the workshop about your own situation, we’re always happy to have that conversation.
Questions? Get in touch with the MBC team.
Forbes: (02) 6393 9444 | Orange: (02) 6362 0988 | Parkes: (02) 6863 5142 | mbco.com.au
