The 10 Year Cliff And What Farm Advisors Can Do About It
The 10-Year Cliff: How to Keep First-Generation Farmers From Falling Off It
Something I’ve seen first-hand more than a few times: first-generation farmers start out as farmhands, hustling from field to wash station; they spend a couple years leading crews and managing farms; when they feel ready, they start their own operation. And according to all outward signs (IG posts and farm newsletters), they become successful. They run it for about a decade, and then… they’re gone.
What Happened in Those 10 Years?
Three big things:
Their families changed. Farming starts out all-consuming, and in the first few years, many young farmers are operating solo or with a partner who is fully bought in. But over a decade, life happens. People get married, have kids, and take on responsibilities that require more stability—both in time and income. What once felt like an adventurous, all-hands-on-deck lifestyle starts to feel unsustainable when a farmer needs to be home for bedtime routines, school events, or taking care of aging parents. The support network also shifts; the young farmer social scene of cow punk potlucks and farm work-shares thins out as peers move into different life stages.
Their financial goals changed. At the start, many farmers just want to farm. It’s a thrill to be on the land and doing work you love. Breaking even, paying the bills, and having a little extra feels like success. They are focused on making a life, not a living. But after ten years, they start thinking about home ownership, saving for their kids' futures, securing retirement, and having actual financial security—things unimaginable at year one become non-negotiable by year ten. If the farm isn’t providing for those goals, the pressure grows.
Their bodies changed. Working on small farms is great when your body can take it. But a decade or two of physical labor takes its toll. Knees, backs, and feet that once shrugged off 14-hour days now ache for14 more after the work is done. Recovery takes longer. Injury risk and mental stress increase. The question soon becomes, “Do I want to keep doing this for another 10, 20, 30 years?”
How Should We Feel About This?
Let’s acknowledge the weight of this transition—because whether it’s five generations or ten years you’ve been on a piece of land, walking away from it is hard. Agriculture has saved the lives of many of us. It has given us purpose. It’s been an anchor in a world that often feels unmoored to anything of substance. It has grounded us in seasons, soil, and community. Leaving that sucks.
But life does move in seasons and is written for most of us in chapters. So if someone is stepping toward something new—using muscles they haven’t flexed in a while, whether creative or intellectual—let’s honor their work, celebrate their contributions, and support their evolution.
But for the people who want to keep farming but feel burned out, can’t make ends meet, and face systems that seems impossible to navigate, then my job is clear: I need to figure out how I can do better by them.
What Can We Do About It?
If we want to serve farmers well, we need a form of advising that acknowledges these three fundamental changes—family, finances, and physical capacity—and builds business models and financial plans that account for them. Advisors must track these shifts, engage farmers throughout the process, and ensure we are measuring the right things. We need:
Models for Risk Assessment, General Resilience, and Hope. Entrepreneurs are inherently “risk on” folks. But most burnout happens after a risk tipping point. How do we help farmers build general resilience and maintain their sense of optimism?
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that Matter. How do we measure sustainability beyond just profitability? Can we track work hours, financial security milestones, physical health and wellness, or transition readiness? What markers tell us a farmer is on a viable long-term path?
A System for Engaging Farmers at Different Stages. Advisors need structured check-ins that help farmers reflect on their evolving personal and business needs over time. These changes don’t happen overnight, and neither should our planning.
Better Models for Business Viability and Transitions. Instead of reactive problem-solving, we need proactive frameworks that help farmers plan for growth, pivot points, and eventual transitions—whether that means scaling up, selling, or restructuring.
With these guiding principles in place, I believe it is possible to build out a toolkit farm financial advisors need:
Core Skill Sets. Advisors must bring to bear (individually or with a team) a working knowledge of taxes, business structures, insurance, financial planning, succession planning, estate planning, and risk management. And not just for the business lives of farmers, but their personal ones too. Every extra dollar saved (or earned) and re-invested today counts tenfold for their futures.
Baseline Models for Viability. We need standardized benchmarks to help farmers assess whether their businesses are now or will be financially sustainable. The numbers are out there. Advisors should be able to help farmers see where they stand—and help them set goals for where they need to go next.
A Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice for Farm Advisors. Too often, farmers receive conflicting, incomplete, or misleading advice. Advisors should adhere to clear professional ethics, know the limits of their competencies, and exercise a duty of care to the farmers they serve.
Helping Farmers Plan for Transitions from Day One. Whether it’s selling, leasing, passing the farm to a successor, or exiting entirely, advisors need to be well-versed in transition strategies. Too many farmers start without a plan and leave without a plan—because no one helped them build one.
Centering Finance within Multiple Forms of Wealth. A successful regenerative or organic farm is rooted in financial stability. Without it, there is no capacity for soil health, livestock welfare, family communication, community ties, mental well-being, and long-term sustainability.
An Abundance Mindset. I appreciate the need to increase efficiency while improving quality and reducing input costs— regenerative agriculture is rediscovering some forgotten wisdom in these areas. But farmers get in trouble applying that concept to other areas like marketing, sales, technology, and bookkeeping — where delegating will show up as an investment rather than an expense.
There is still so much untapped potential for “first generation” and “junior generation” farmers. The food system, the political system, and the financial system all have their issues—but my job isn’t to dwell on what’s broken. It is to focus on opportunities. If we bring a robust set of advisory skills to areas that farmers can control, that alone may be enough to keep a good number of them from falling off the ten year cliff.
You’ve built something meaningful. Let’s make sure your finances help it thrive— reach out today.
