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We appreciate state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township for hosting his annual agricultural breakfast recently.
This year's breakfast featured Jodi Gauker, of family-owned Gauker Farms in Berks County. She spoke to farmers at the breakfast about an important topic -- estate planning for farms.
We agree with Gauker that it is important for farms -- and for all enterprises -- to have succession plans in place. In the grief and pain that surrounds death, the logistics of new people taking on new roles so that an enterprise can continue to operate can be daunting and accompanied by greater anxiety and frustration.
Having clear, legally binding directives can help farmers and other enterprises make these transitions more smoothly, with less burden on survivors.
"What happens when we don't have a will in place," Gauker said, according to an article in the weekend edition of the Sun-Gazette, is that all heirs to the estate inherit a fraction of the enterprise -- a cumbersome, stressful process.
"That is how we are actually losing a lot of farmland in the United States," Gauker noted.
We believe our communities want to see farms and farmers succeed. We believe our communities want to see our neighbors' businesses and enterprises thrive. Estate planning helps businesses -- whether they be farms or something else -- get through some of the toughest, most challenging times their owners and leaders will experience.