The Office of Farm and Ranch Transition at Kansas State university will be partnering with the Southwind Extension District to host the 2022 Farm and Ranch Transition Conference on December 15, at the Neosho Valley Event Center in Erie, KS.

The conference invites keynote speaker Dr. Shannon Ferrell, of Oklahoma State University, to speak on the process of farm transitioning. As and educator and speaker, Dr. Ferrell helps audiences all over North America understand the fundamental legal elements of farm and business management and farm transition planning. He has provided presentations and workshops to a cumulative audience of over 30,000 across the US and Canada while authoring over fifty publications, including serving as lead author on the Farm Transition Workbook. In addition, he has testified before Congress and the Oklahoma state legislature on multiple policy issues involved in farm transitions from regulatory barriers to retirement savings. In private practice, he helps farm families with both the conversations involved in forming the best transition planning approach and creating the mechanisms to make their transitions successful.

Ashlee Westerhold, Director of the Kansas State Office of Farm and Ranch Transitions will speak on the services the office provides following their three main objectives: 1. Development of a land-link program to introduce exiting landowners with beginning farmers/ranchers through an application and curated matching process. 2. Provide one-on-one technical services to facilitate transitioning the operation. 3. Develop an extensive training program for beginning farmers/ranchers to master critical financial and business issues.

Participants will also learn about when and how to utilize lawyers in their farm transitioning process and hear from a peer panel on real experiences of going through the transitioning process.

Farmers, Ranchers, Landowners, and consultants are all encouraged to attend this conference to gain valuable insight on transitioning out of, or into a farm or ranch. Participants can sign up by visiting www.agkansitions.org or by calling Chad at any Southwind Extension District office. The deadline to sign up for this conference is Dec. 1.