December 22, 2025

The conversation no farmer wants to have – until it is too late

By Will McKinley
Menn Law Firm

Most farmers I work with would rather climb into a manure pit than sit down for a serious talk about what happens when they die. It’s not stubbornness. It’s the unspoken creed all farmers subscribe to: the land and the farmer are supposed to be eternal. Admitting that one day the barn will run without you feels like betrayal of the legacy, the lifestyle, and maybe even the soil itself.

But mortality doesn’t negotiate. And when it arrives early or unexpectedly, the absence of a clear plan can fracture families faster than any market crash or disease outbreak ever could.

Consider a case I recently encountered involving four brothers who operate a multi-generational dairy. Their great-aunt – a spinster - passed away and left them 1,100 acres of prime farmland. She was very explicit that when she died, the land would “stay with the boys who milk cows.” The brothers paid exactly zero dollars for the land, which has a present value in excess of $10 million.

They formed an LLC and signed a 12-page operating agreement pulled from an online template. It was “good enough.” One section that was buried deep in the boilerplate stated that if a member dies, his interest passes automatically to his heirs.

Eighteen months later, one brother died suddenly at age 64. He left a wife and three adult children, none of whom have ever shown the slightest interest in dairying.

The children’s position was straightforward: “We don’t want to farm. Buy us out at fair market value.” The surviving three brothers’ position is equally heartfelt: “Your dad never paid a dime for this ground. It was a gift to farmers – for farmers, by a woman who loved the dairy. We can’t borrow $2.5 million to buy you out, and even if we could, why should we?”

Both sides are right; both sides are wrong; and everyone is miserable. A legacy that survived the Great Depression, the 1980s farm crisis, and $15 milk is coming apart because four brothers couldn’t (or wouldn’t) stomach one hard afternoon of planning.

This story is playing out in parlors and kitchen tables across the country. The names change, the acreage changes, but the script is the same: “We’ll get to it someday.” Then, someday inevitably arrives without warning.

The above conundrum could have been easily avoided. The reality is that a few hours of uncomfortable conversation and a few hundred dollars in legal fees could have saved a lot of people a lot of anxiety and heartache.

Contrary to popular belief, your death is not negotiable and your children’s feelings about farming are not guaranteed. Therefore, it is imperative to have the conversation and say the hard things out loud while everyone can still hear them. If you don’t, the alternative is letting a judge, or worse, resentment, decide what your legacy (and that of the farm) will be.

Will McKinley is an agri-business attorney with Menn Law Firm, Ltd, a Corporate Partner of Professional Dairy Producers^®. He can be reached at william-mckinley@mennlaw.com.