“I am leaving the farm business. I can’t take the indecision anymore. I was hoping for a fair ‘family’ price for buying out my Dad, but he wants ‘fair market value’”.  A long pause on the phone line, I as the coach am letting the silence do the heavy lifting (Susan Scott’s term). This farmer has invested almost 3 decades with his family business and now he is cutting his losses and leaving.

Greed is defined as an “excessive desire, especially for wealth or food.”

You may have your own definition of greed, and I am very sure you know a family story about the ill outcomes of excessive desire to control a farm or demand too much money from the next generation.

I see greed rear its ugly face when families cry out for support as they watch the non-farm siblings come home to roost after the death of the bachelor uncle. They are looking for their share of the gold with no regard for the sweat equity or intended roll-over to the younger business partner.

Fear of not having enough money after 75 is another common scenario, especially if the one holding the assets has a ‘rags-to-riches’ story. Even J.K. Rowling, the billionaire writer of the Harry Potter series confessed to Oprah that she still worries sometimes about money!

Many farm folks wish they had a pot of gold or a fairy god-mother to bestow more cash flow into the farm business after the tough weather disaster they’ve faced this year. Continue reading GREED vs FAIR FAMILY PRICE »