360 | Why Farm Transitions Fail with Will McKinley
Today on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast, Peggy Coffeen interviews attorney Will McKinley of Menn Law in a three-part follow-up to the Farm Forward conference, focusing on why farm transitions fail and how to prevent it. McKinley cites two primary failure causes: economic infeasibility and psychology/communication breakdowns, including control issues and lack of confidence in successors; he shares examples where debt forced likely land sales and where strict post-death “guardrails” led a son to leave and the dairy to shut down.
He emphasizes earlier planning, strong financial advisors, and tools like trusts with independent trustees. Discussing non-family key employees, he warns ownership success is about 50/50, urges transparency, cautions against rushed promises and mingling assets like cattle or equipment, and suggests alternatives such as higher compensation or limited real-estate partnerships.
Make sure to tune in tomorrow and Thursday for parts two and three.
Contact Will McKinley at Menn Law:
William-McKinley@mennlaw.com
(920) 731-6631
https://mennlaw.com/
Do you have a question on succession and farm transition you would like to hear Will answer on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast? Send your questions to peggy@upleveldairy.com
00:00 Why Transitions Fail
02:16 Two Failure Causes
02:40 Debt And Taxes Trap
03:52 Psychology And Control
08:08 Preventing Financial Failure
13:14 Trusts And Guardrails
16:18 Non-Family Partners
25:50 Avoiding Messy Entanglements
