Family farms focus on relationships and legal readiness at Ag PhD Field Day

It’s one thing to manage acres, inputs and equipment. It’s another to navigate business decisions with the people you share a last name.

That reality took center stage at two learning sessions during Ag PhD Field Day July 31 at the Hefty farm near Baltic, S.D., where speakers tackled both the relational and legal complexities of running a family farm.

The session, titled “What No One Tells You About Running a Farm with In-Laws, Siblings and Spouses,” featured speakers Mary Pat Sass, Rachel Fishback of Pride of Pork, Kelly Griggs of Griggs Farms, and ag communicator Bridgette Readel. The conversation covered both everyday realities and the long-term challenges of farming with family.

“Hours and days off matter,” Sass said, noting that prioritizing mental health and work-life balance, especially through separate vacations, has been key to her marriage. “Highly recommend therapy if you can,” she added.

Fishback spoke from experience after the sudden loss of her father during planting season. The emotional weight was compounded by logistical strain.

“You don’t realize how much help someone was until they’re gone,” she said.

Griggs, who farms in Tennessee with her husband, highlighted the role of structure. Her operation is set up as an LLC, which she said helps keep business and personal assets cleanly divided.

“Don’t put something together that can’t be separated,” she warned, noting how difficult it can be to untangle shared land or equipment later on.

Succession came up often. Sass and her husband don’t have non-family heirs, while Griggs works with a stepson who plays an active role. She believes young people deserve the opportunity, whether they were family or not. All agreed that clear communication and defined roles are critical.

Throughout the panel, one sentiment came through clearly: relationships are the foundation, and they need just as much attention as the soil or spreadsheets.

“The most important crop you raise is your family,” Readel said.

Another session at the field day focused on what happens when families don’t plan, legally or financially.

Bobbi Thury and Jayna Voss, estate planning attorneys at Legacy Law Firm, P.C., in Sioux Falls, led attendees through the essentials of entity planning, covering everything from LLCs and corporations to trusts and succession strategies.

They shared some statistics: 85% of family businesses fail by the third generation, and 95% by the fourth.

“The ostrich approach, putting your head in the sand, doesn’t work,” Thury said. “Everyone in this room has a 100% mortality rate. Unless you want to leave your family a mess, you have to make time to plan.”

The attorneys outlined common structures such as corporations, popular in Iowa but often difficult to dissolve, and LLCs, which they recommended as a more flexible option for both operations and land ownership. They also stressed the importance of understanding passive ownership, non-voting interests, and tools like buy-sell agreements to avoid conflict among heirs.

A growing concern, they said, is long-term care. With nursing home costs topping $120,000 per year in South Dakota, farmers approaching retirement may need tools like Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts to preserve land and legacy.

“There’s no one-size-fits-all answer,” Voss said, “but a multi-tool approach gives the best protection.”

Whether the topic was emotional burnout or estate tax exposure, both sessions returned to the same message: success on a family farm isn’t just about yields or profit margins. It’s about planning for the people as well as the business.

And for producers in the region navigating complex family dynamics or future transitions, the takeaway was: the time to talk is now.