The Full Episode Audio:
Show Notes:
Most farming families think succession is something they'll deal with later. Ben Law thinks that's exactly why it breaks them.
In this conversation with Josh and Steph Borowski on Hard Ground, Ben — founder of AgriCoach and former financial adviser of 25 years — gets straight to the heart of why intergenerational farm transitions so often go wrong. Not because of poor seasons or high debt, but because of the conversations that never happened, the expectations that were never set, and the relationships that were quietly eroding while everyone looked the other way.
Ben shares why succession doesn't start at retirement — it starts at birth. And why waiting until the pressure is on means you're already behind. He walks through what it actually takes to prepare a farming business, the current generation, and the next generation for a transition that holds together — and why getting all three ready at the same time is harder, and more important, than most families realise.
The conversation goes to places most succession discussions won't. The role daughters and daughters-in-law play — and why excluding them is one of the most costly mistakes a family can make. The difference between father-son and father-daughter dynamics, and why one is almost always harder than the other. What GWC — get it, want it, capacity — really means for the next generation who want a seat at the table. And what off-farm siblings actually need to hear, long before assets ever change hands.
Ben and the Borowski’s also tackle the situations that feel impossible — when the older generation won't let go, when conflict has been building for years, and when people feel so stuck they can't see a way forward. Ben is direct about what victim mentality costs families, and what it looks like to choose a different path even when it's hard.
This is a conversation built for farming families who are ready to stop avoiding the hard ground and start walking it — together.
https://pod.link/1891146857