Boomerangers bring useful skills back home

But can you find room for them in the family business?

Have you ever heard of boomerangers? David Kohl, the Virginia Tech ag economist, mentioned the term in his talk at the International Succession Conference in Ottawa in August. Boomerangers are farm children who come back to the farm business after spending time away at another career. Boomerangers are young adults. The term "professional detour" is used for older folks around 40 who launched an off-farm career and have now chosen to return to the farm business.

Boomerangers and professional detourers present several challenges for the family farm dynamic, especially if one child is already poised to take over the farm.

Is the business viable enough with income streams to support two or more families?
How is the management and decision making process going to change? Will there be an inter-generational transfer of managerial control and ownership?
Will there be written operating agreements and employment job descriptions?
Will the opinions of the boomeranger be respected and can he or she make changes?

In Ontario 30 per cent of successors have taken a professional detour, and in Quebec it is 14.5 per cent, according to Matt Lobley of the University of Exeter's Centre for Rural Policy Research. When these folks come back they have different skills and ideas to add to the farm team. But you need a strong communication process and business plan in place to make a good transition experience.

High rates of succession are a testament to the tenacity and persistence of farm families. What these late-returners bring is a new set of skills that often complement this tenacity and persistence. For example, folks who leave good paying banking careers to farm with neighbours in a joint venture of thousands of acres often have the skills to run a large profitable business with several employees.

Some families have "adopted" professional non-family members to bring these very skills into their business model. Opening your arms to professionals is a great way to strengthen the farm. For one thing, professionals can help create and then implement a business plan. A 2004 study showed that having a business plan and using great communication made the operations more profitable. Professionals also are likely to have a human resource plan in place for the operation to deal with the people issues. Ninety percent of farms do not have a written human resource plan!

Lobley feels excited about the new skills from previous careers in business, sales, media etc. that bring "new blood" to agriculture to run dynamic businesses. He's talking about folks who didn't grow up on the farm at all but have chosen to get into farming.

There are more than financial reasons for these new farmers and for boomerangers and professional detourers returning to the roost. Farm families put a high value on their quality of life. That is why, for example, we are seeing young ex-oil patch workers in Saskatchewan opt for farming income, and the quality time available to watch their children play hockey at the local rink.

The repeated transfer of farms down generations of same families in a locality results in farming families deeply socially embedded in their communities. But the face of farming is changing in many parts of Canada. I agree with Lobley that here is much to be valued and cherished in all of this.

Boomerangs hurt when they land where they are not welcome. Are you prepared to make room for your professional family member to return to the family farm?

All the best as you welcome the boomerangers, new blood, and professionals to be part of your farm business dynamic.

In November we pay tribute to all the war veterans who took a large detour in leaving their families to secure peace. Take time to reflect on the price of peace, what it meant to farm family dynamics when loved ones did not return home to farm. Professional detours and boomerangers are just new names for something that has happened before.

Elaine Froese encourages your questions about farm family dynamics in succession. Join her teleseminars for a group coaching experience from the privacy of your own home. Check out www.elainefroese.com. If you want to get positive and excited about agriculture, connect with the young farmers organization in your province or go to the Canadian Young Farmers Forum web site, www.cyff.ca.

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