CHAPTER 5 - DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The results show that the transfer phase of family farms is not only a lengthy process but is experienced differently by each of the major players. Both generations are highly invested in the outcome of transfer. However, not all use the same criteria to determine when transfer might be complete.
The significant generational differences in definitions of entry and retirement reflect the place of each family member in the business and in the life course. Receiving generation men view assumption of ownership and management responsibility as essential elements of entry. To farm, one must own and run the business. These aspects of the business are fundamental to its success and continuity. It may be for those very reasons that fewer retiring generation women or men see exit from control of the business as essential aspects of retirement. One can still have some involvement in the farm and be retired. Maintaining control is a symbol of the high stake of older women and men, while seeking to take over control is equally a symbol of the high stake of younger men and women. Thus while older couples may feel retired even if they retain some business control, younger couples, especially men, will not feel as if the farm is theirs until parents have given up that control.
Differing generational views of what is meant by retirement and entry are only one aspect of a theme in this research of generational misapprehension. Receiving generation members overestimated the retirement and estate planning done by their parents. Children thought that their parents had done more estate planning than parents reported, especially in updating their wills and meeting with MAF farm consultants. While parents know about their own planning process, children may be left with no more than their hopes that planning is proceeding.
Children also underestimated the staying power of their parents in terms of continued involvement in the farm. In all areas of work, management and ownership, more parents said they plan to continue as long as they were able, than children thought was the case. Paradoxically, establishing children in farming is seen as the most important reason for retirement by both generations. It seems that while both generations share overall goals, their preferred means of achieving those goals are different.
Consistent gender differences in these families point to a second theme that emerges from the study; women don't farm in the same way as men. Women of all ages are less involved in the work, management and ownership of their farms than are men. They are most under-represented in the traditionally male aspects of the business management: production and marketing. And these New Zealand farm women are less involved in the business than their counterparts in the Generations Alberta study.
Two caveats are necessary to put these findings in context. The first is that there is great variety in the amount of involvement women have in their farms. Although average amounts of involvement are low, there are some women who are doing half of the work, management and ownership on their farms. The second point is that younger women expect that they will be more involved in the business at mid-life than their mothers-in-law have been. Yet, women's hopes of greater influence in their farms may be thwarted. Receiving generation women sit on the sidelines. They are relative newcomers to farm and family and they are least likely to be involved in discussions about the future of the business. Like their husbands, they believe that ownership and responsibility are essential elements of entry into the business. While they expect at mid-life to be doing more management and ownership of their farms and sharing the load with their husbands, their husbands expect to be doing less management and ownership but not to be sharing more with their wives.
Receiving generation men appear to be caught in a generational treadmill. Some were not only farming with their fathers but with grandfathers and great uncles who were still involved in the farm operation, either actively or with an investment/ownership involvement. As they look ahead, they may believe that at mid-life they will be running the business with their still-involved fathers rather than their wives. They may also be considering the involvement of their own sons and hoping to help the next generation develop their stake in the business earlier than has been possible for them.
There was a range of stress levels in these families who were attempting to manage their business and family lives during a time when both are in transition. In many families, the structure of the family is changing as adult children marry and bring their new partner into the family. ~t is interesting to highlight our finding that a substantial minority of receiving generation men in this study were unmarried. We are only able to speculate on the reasons for this high number of unmarried sons on generational farms where family succession is important. Are farmers' sons no longer seen as an attractive marriage option? In a society where women now take up life careers, is farm life too constraining with its' family and business interdependence? What will be the effect on rural communities where farm women have so long played a positive role, if their numbers are further diminished? Most of all, if this is an emerging trend, what of the generational farm family and of family farming?
The structure of the business is changing as older members prepare to leave and plans are made for the entry of the next generation. Yet what of those who have few plans to leave, who plan to 'die in the paddock' rather than retire off the farm? Meaningful activities are viewed as essential aspects of life in our work-oriented society. And it is clear from the responses of retiring generation respondents that their farm life has been meaningful. In fact few older men thought that having time to do other things was a good reason for retirement. For them, retirement is not seen as a time to move into a less active old age, nor as a new beginning with new activities, but as a continuation of life with a phasing out of farm involvement as the next gene ration gradually takes over.
Receiving generation farmers see some of these parental behaviours such as 'delayed exit' as barriers to entry. The pressure of success ion means that farming into old age interrupts the generational clock. We expect young people to establish their careers in their twenties. The children of a seventy year old farmer may be well into their forties, long past the usual stage of entering into a career. Developmental theorists talk about family events that occur too early, too late or on time. If parents had their children when they were in their early twenties, children will be ready to start their farm careers when parents are in their early forties. Career entry in one's early twenties is 'on time' but retirement in the mid forties is considered 'too early'. And family cycles can overlap as much as business cycles. A farmer in his mid forties may have just seen father retire when his own children are beginning to think about entry. Such a farmer may be reluctant to retire if he feels he has had less than a decade of being fully in control of his farm. It is quite unlikely that the timing of transfer will be ideal for all members of any farm family.
An objective of this study was to describe the process of movement out of farming by the retiring generation and movement in by the receiving generation. The findings confirmed some of the hypotheses about the nature of this process. The peak of business involvement for both men and women is when they are in the mid forties. Exit begins shortly thereafter, but may not be completed for two or even three decades. This attenuated retirement allows a view in detail of what McDonald and Wanner (1990) described as the retirement process of approaching and taking on the retirement role.
Although the farm business is thought of as having distinct entry and exit phases, in all of the farms in this study these phases are concurrent. Retirement is 110 more an individual process than is entry, and the ways in which men and women move into and out of the business are interdependent. A lengthy process of exit such as has been seen in these families is dependent upon the availability of family apprentices to gradually assume responsibility for work and management. Receiving generation men begin this process in their teens, while many receiving generation women begin to assume farm roles after marriage and their level of entry is constrained.
The assumption of farm roles at entry was in the order expected. Farm work was taken on at a young age, with management tasks next and ownership transfer delayed often until after retiring farmers were no longer actively involved in the farm. Receiving women assume farm roles in the same order as their husbands but at lower levels. The dichotomy seen in young women's expectations about their farm roles suggests upcoming changes in the structure of farm business. Some women expect traditional career paths of homemaker and supporter to their farmer-husbands. Others expect to be full working partners. There is a need to continue to be aware of the potential difficulties for these women as they attempt to fulfil their expectations.
The overall timing of exit/entry is similar to urban workers. Careers began on average in the early twenties and ended on average in the mid sixties. However, there was great variation in exit and entry ages. And substantial numbers of retiring generation respondents did not expect to retire from work, management or ownership until they could no longer physically continue.
One contribution of this study is to set out the different kinds of investment or commitment to farm and family. Farm parents and their sons had similar levels of farm stake, presumably since all had spent many years on the farm and were committed to the continuity of the business. However, both sons and daughters-in-law had lower levels of family stake than the retiring generation. More than anything, this is an indication that the receiving generation are moving away from the retiring generation as they establish their own families. Receiving generation men and women might prefer more 'intimacy at a distance' than they are able to achieve working and living so closely with other family members.
A successful transfer has many elements. It includes continuity of the business so that the next generation is able to receive a farm that is a 'going concern'. It includes the Incorporation of men and women in the receiving generation so that both feel part of the family and the business and have a high stake in both. And stress throughout transfer must be low enough-that family members still feel a sense of cohesion at the end of the process.
Among all rural families, farm families undoubtedly have the greatest potential for family supportiveness but also the greatest potential for family stress. They live and work in a situation of physical and emotional interconnectedness, at odds with a culture that stresses independence of generations. The families in this study seem to represent a group of people who will need supportive family relationships as they grow older. As the retiring generation completes their exit and transfer, they will have before them yet another set of decisions to be resolved about their level of interconnectedness for the next phase of life.
Contact for Enquiries
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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