The intergenerational transfer of managerial control in the farm-family business: A comparative study of England, France and Canada

Abstract

The acquisition of business management skills is an increasingly important component of programmes designed to develop the next generation of farmers but the most appropriate content and timing of such programmes will depend on when the aspiring farmer becomes a manager in his or her own right. This paper focuses on the process of succession through which managerial control is passed from one generation to the next within the farming family. A typology of succession strategies is described which lays particular emphasis on the progressive delegation of particular areas of responsibility to the farmer's successor. Empirical evidence drawn from postal surveys of 3,500 farms in England, France and Canada completed during the 1990s is then presented which confirms the existence of a characteristic “ladder of farming succession” which appears to have widespread applicability. Some implications for the providers of vocational education and training to the farm sector are then discussed.