You know you should make plans for the future of the farm, but maybe you’re not sure where to start. Or maybe you’ve had a few conversations with your family or farming partners, but that conversation drifts to other more pressing matters about the operation. 

It is common for farmers to push farm succession planning to the back of their minds. It isn’t something that farmers do every year, so finding the time and knowing where to start can be hurdles that seem too high to cross. 

In an upcoming farm succession workshop, Joy Kirkpatrick and Kelly Wilfert, both Farm Management Outreach Specialists with UW-Madison Extension, will provide a framework to help farms to identify legal risks in farm succession and estate planning and to begin those first conversations around succession planning.  Lakeshore College Agribusiness Instructor Lyndsay Burmesch is partnering with Extension to host this workshop at the Cleveland Lakeshore College campus. UW-Madison Division of Extension educators Angie Ulness, Manitowoc County Dairy Educator, and Liz Gartman, Regional Crops Educator for Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Washington, Ozaukee counties will be there to share upcoming Extension programs they are offering this winter. 

The workshop will be held on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, from Noon – 3:30 pm at the Lakeshore College, 1290 North Avenue, Cleveland, WI, Lakeshore Building, Centennial Hall. 

Registration is $25/person, which includes lunch and workshop materials. The workshop is also financially supported by Lakeshore College and UW-Madison Division of Extension.  Please register online at go.wisc.edu/vie48c. The registration deadline is January 7, 2026. 

For more information, contact joy.kirkpatrick@wisc.edu 608-263-3485 or kelly.wilfert@wisc.edu 608-263-5798. If you need special accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Joy.kirkpatrick@wisc.edu or call 608-263-3485.