Building a strong foundation for farm transition with Elaine Froese

In this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, host Kimmi Devaney chats with Elaine Froese about how farm families can build a strong foundation for farm transition. Froese has more than 30 years of experience helping farm families through this process and has written articles in almost every issue of Progressive Dairy – Canada for the past 14 years.  Read Froese’s articles in Progressive Dairy and visit her website. Episode overview: [~1:10] About Froese’s background and her inspiration for helping farm families with transition planning[~3:00] When should farm families start discussion farm transition?[~4:05] Tips to help farm families communicate better[~7:15] Other essential skills for building a strong foundation for farm transition[~10:55] Tips to better communicate expectations[~13:55] The first step in the farm transition process[~16:40] Understanding conflict styles[~21:20] What role do nonfarm heirs have in the farm transition conversation?[~24:20] How to approach “fair versus equal”[~31:00] Tips to get everyone to the table to discuss farm transition[~34:45] Considerations when selecting a driver to coordinate the farm transition conversation[~38:30] How farm families can better navigate through difficult emotions before and/or during transition conversations[~43:50] Nonrelated transition[~48:30] The top pitfall Froese sees when working with farm families[~49:15] Top three tips for farm transition[~53:15] Rapid-fire questions