November 1, 2011

Does Contribution Equal Compensation?

Should contributions to the success of a family farm or ranch be compensated?

One of the most difficult decisions for a farm or ranch owner occurs when one heir returns to the family business and the siblings don't.

If you start out with the premise that we all love our children and hope to treat them fairly, it follows that if contributions to the success of the farming business are more or less equal, we should compensate our children more or less equally. The difficulty arises because many times the farming heir will make contributions to the success of the business that are not equaled by their siblings.

If you're facing these same questions and issues in your family ag operation, you'll want to see the  Oct. 26  Cornhusker Economics article by Dave Goeller, deputy director of the Noth Central Risk Management Education Center, as he examines how to evaluate the contributions and options for compensation.

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