CHAPTER 1 - SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Family farming has long been held to be the cornerstone of the New Zealand agricultural system. If generational family farming as a means of production is to persist, indeed survive, then the very action of transfer from one generation to the other must be capable of responding to the needs of all the members of the farm family. At the very least, appropriate actions by family members have had to be taken to ensure that the family inheritance, the farm, is not only handed to, but is to be safe with, the succeeding generation. Nor can the transactions of transfer be allowed to disrupt the farming operation so that the stewardship of the land is jeopardised. If intergenerational transfer is to take place effectively, a number of questions immediately arise. Is 'appropriate action' always appropriate for both the retiring generation and the succeeding generation? How are questions of retirement and succession settled? Do all members of the farming family take part in farm family decisions as retirement and succession is debated? Is there interaction between the family life cycle and the business cycle that determine when and how the transfer of the business should take place?
For some business sectors the gold watch signifies the end of a formal working life - an enforced retirement triggered by the attainment of a prescribed age. For those engrossed in their work the cut-off can be brutal. Even for others less involved in their workplace, retirement can be traumatic. The planning required by the employer to ensure the perpetuation of the business often takes place without any input from the soon-to-be-retired employee.
In the farming business, the farmer must plan her/his own retirement, with the continuing perpetuation of the farm and the farm family as a primary goal if the succession is to be successful. Retirement in a generational farm business cannot take place unless or until there is a successor. There can be no exit without entry. Equally there will be no succession without a place being made for the successor by death or retirement.
Intergenerational transfer inherently demands commitment; commitment to the land, the farm enterprise and the family. It may not only be the farm family members whose lives are affected by the farm transfer. The retiring generation and the receiving generation have vested a commitment in each other. As the life cycle moulds and establishes the characteristics of the farm family, the balance of commitment between the two generations alters.
In every field of endeavour, agriculture included, the role of women has undergone change. What of the new generation farm women? Is their role being accepted and accommodated within the farm family and are their expectations of their place within the family being met in the issues of succession?
Little is known about the intergenerational transfer of land or the problems or rewards of retirement and succession, that face most New Zealand farm families. In an endeavour to throw light on this major event in the business and life cycle of the farm family, this study describes the action of transfer as it affected some South Island farm families.
The purpose of this research project was to describe the patterns of movement in and out of farm work, management and ownership of a group of South Island farm families and to compare the findings with patterns of farm families in western Canada (Keating & Munro, 1991). There were five objectives to the study:
| 1. | to understand the entry/exit of two generations of men and women working together on their farms. |
| 2. | to examine attitudes toward retirement, reasons for retirement and age of retirement of older generation women and men. |
| 3. | to describe how those in the retiring generation plan for retirement/succession and how much those in the receiving generation are involved in those plans. |
| 4. | to evaluate levels of commitment or stake in farm and family of all family members. |
| 5. | to compare levels of stress of retiring and receiving generation women and men. |
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Rural Affairs Coordinator
Sector Performance Policy
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 4 894 0675
Fax: +64 4 4 894 0745
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