Farm Succession: Challenging and uncertain future? Matt Lobley speaks at New Zealand summit and launches new book

Matt Lobley was the opening speaker at a Farm Succession Summit at Massey University, New Zealand.
The event on July 13-14 at the Manawatu Campus was hosted by OneFarm, the Centre of Excellence in Farm Business Management, a joint venture between Massey and Lincoln universities.
Matt’s presentation “Keeping It in the Family: International Perspectives on Succession and Retirement on Family Farms” considered the importance of the family in family farming and explored the results of research from several different countries.
OneFarm team member Tom Phillips said “The aim is to gather information so we can then produce quality professional development programmes for rural professionals”.   He added "80 per cent of farmers indicated farm succession was an issue for them, but less than 10 per cent had a succession plan in place. The tools are there, so why is this not happening?  With the value and size of farms increasing, and the complex dynamics of families, succession is increasingly becoming an issue".
Other speakers at the summit included Heather Watson from Farm Management Canada and Rob Brown, Family Strategic Advisor, NSW, Australia.  Representatives from national stakeholder groups such as DairyNZ, the New Zealand Dairy Women’s Network and Young Farmers also attended.

The summit provided an ideal opportunity to launch Matt’s new book also titled Keeping It In The Family. For more information on the book, edited by Matt Lobley, John Baker and Ian Whitehead click here - Keeping It In The Family

Download Matt's presentation - Keeping it in the family: NZ Summit.