Monday, February 06, 2012
The "super" part of the weekend started long before the football game. Friday and Saturday, men and women, aged 18-35 and passionate about farming, gathered in Bloomington for Illinois Farm Bureau's annual Young Leader Conference.
One of the highlights of the conference was hearing Dr. Ron Hanson, professor of agribusiness at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, deliver his honest and entertaining approach for dealing with family farm succession matters.
"Your mom and dad don't owe you a farm or inheritance. They owe you nothing," Hanson said. "It's an act of generosity for them to pass down the farm."
He stressed that family farm breakdowns do not come from yield or financial troubles; they come from family members unable to effectively communicate and work together in a team effort approach to their farming business.
Hanson then provided pitfalls to watch for and ways to avoid them. "Farms can be replaced; families can't," he concluded.
Other topics tackled during the conference, included:
The IFB Young Leader Conference means more than tough issues. It means community outreach and networking, too. Thanks to everyone's generosity during the silent and live auctions, the YL's raised and donated $9,950 to Feeding Illinois! Fighting hunger has been a long-standing commitment of the Young Leader program.
Finally, but definably not least, this family-friendly conference was an opportunity for men and women to meet new people, make new friends, and grow as leaders in the farming community.
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