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Many farmers spend a lifetime accumulating land and investing in their farms. Most farmers have a desire to transition their assets and operations to the next generation. It’s complicated and time-consuming, so it takes a team of professionals to help and give advice on farm transition planning. A professional team can help farm families figure out all the issues involved in farm estate planning. Here are some tips taken directly from The Ohio State University Extension on how to get started. For more information, go to: https ://farmoffice.osu.edu /blog -tags /estate -planning . Don’t jump right to the plan—talk first. An important first step to building a plan is getting the family talking and thinking. Ohio State University Extension has a farm management team that can assist with the initial steps. David Marrison, OSU Extension, recommends strategies for working with farm families, including understanding the legacy, encouraging the family to assess its strengths, weaknesses, oppor

  Farmers and researchers often say it takes 3-5-7 years or longer to convert to no-till before the yields and profits are the same or return back to normal. When crop prices are low, that makes it harder to switch from conventional tillage to no-till crops. Soybeans and wheat are the easiest to convert, but for corn, the yield lag may be 10-20%, which makes the conversion unprofitable. However, some farmers and researchers are making the conversion without a yield lag. With less fuel, equipment, and labor needed; no-till farming practices become much more profitable than conventional crops. Also, the environmental benefits to building soil organic matter and keeping soil in place are added incentives. Since it is a risky to change and with decreased profit expected, any yield lag prevents most farmers from considering a transition. Even short-term yield losses and lower profit are hard to justify even if someone says your future rewards will be higher. That is why the conversion to no

  Harvest has started and farmers were making considerable progress until the recent rains. Most farmers welcomed the rain since we have been in a major drought. For most corn and soybeans crops, the rain is probably too late, but it may help on late or double crop soybeans (planted after wheat) and for new wheat or cover crops being planted this fall. Of course, fruit trees, lawns, and other vegetation needed the rain. On crop harvest, it’s the first time I heard soybeans being harvested at 5-6% moisture and corn at 11% moisture! Normally, ideal moisture for soybeans is 14% and corn 15%. Harvesting at low moisture reduces yields at least 4-6%, so many farmers stopped harvesting or waited until nightfall to gain moisture. Depending upon how much rain was received, harvested moisture levels now are probably closer to normal. Looking forward to the future, once harvest is complete, farmers will start to plan for next year’s crops. A recent development is the research being done by Bayer

Every two years, Ohio State Economist Barry Ward surveys rural appraisers, agricultural leaders, professional farm managers, farmers, landowners, Farm Service Agency personnel, OSU Extension educators, and others on their knowledge of cropland values and cash rents. The latest survey was conducted from January to April 2024 with 131 participants. Barry had adequate data for only Northwestern and Southwestern Ohio, so not enough data was collected for other parts of the state. Surveys (131) were collected for three land classes: top-producing, average land, and bottom-producing cropland. Bottom producing is NOT river bottom land but the lower producing cropland. Soil type, drainage/irrigation, fertility, size and shape of fields, location, parcel size, farm borders (trees, brush, fence rows), wildlife damage, and proximity to grain markets may all affect cropland values. As a reminder, this survey was conducted in Winter 2024, and since then, crop prices have fallen, and drought concern