The trials of the family farm exit

At a Totara Valley farm in South Canterbury, the winter kale crops blow in the cold wind but instead of being out moving fence breaks, Graham Peck, 70, and wife Sharon, 68, can enjoy the view from the warmth and comfort of their retirement home.

The couple emigrated from the UK in 2004, their three children in their late teens at the time, and went on to farm in the area for 17 years.

Just as they were pondering how to split their legacy three ways, the neighbour's property came on the market.

"Three days after my 65th birthday we took out the biggest mortgage I'd had in my life, if you call that retirement?" Graham Peck said.

They initially farmed the two properties together as a family, before a plan emerged to split the farm so two of the three children could each have a viable business, with the third receiving forestry rights and other consideration. They focus on beef, deer and dairy grazing.

"If none of the children had wanted to farm, I think we would've sold up in our early 60s because it was physically hard and not much point doing that much physically hard work."

But fear, Sharon said, could be a strong motivator for older farmers to stay put.

"I've heard the men in the farming partnership say my wife has had to put up with living remotely, a lonely life for a long time, it's only fair that I do what she wants now, then they sell up and move to town.

"What you've done is swap one person feeling less happy for the other person feeling less happy."

Letting go of the family farm

The Pecks say the question of when is the right time to hang up the hat is a question many farmers find tough to answer.

Statistics New Zealand figures show the number of farmers working beyond retirement age is increasing, up 66 percent in the 10 years to 2023.

Sharefarming Consultants co-founder Louise Gibson said there were farmers aged in their 70s and 80s who just refused to let go.

"They, I think, thought they could continue farming on forever, I don't know why that group so specifically, but they're the ones that have really struggled to really let go when it comes to succession planning," she said.

"Even when they may have been the second or third generation themselves on that farm."

And Louise Gibson said problems could start brewing when old age, family and farming mixed with health issues like cognitive decline.

"Memory loss, very paranoid that the contract milker or son was stealing things or doing things wrong or harming the cows," she said.

"And would aggressively shout and yell at the contract milker which had a really unfortunate effect on their relationship to the point where they don't actually speak anymore."

The next generation of retirees hopes to do better

There is another group, said Louise Gibson, of farmers in their 50s and 60s, who were watching the older generation get it wrong and spending more time and energy coming up with a plan for their exit.

But she said with children not always wanting to return to the farm, they were faced with the choice of either cashing up, or exploring other exit options.

Chris Laming, of agri-broker NZAB, said that was where equity partnerships were helping farmers transition.

"What we've done in a few instances and it's worked out quite well is potentially those exiting farmers being part of the capital solution on the other side," he said.

"Aligning them with good capable proven operators who might not have the capital to get into a first farm."

Beyond the financial is the psycho-social downside of moving off the farm. According to South Canterbury Rural Support Trust co-ordinator Jilly Haywood, having help to join clubs or making new connections can help ease the transition.

"So that they can have something to look forward to off farm or something to put their skills and interests into, to give them that sense of purpose and belonging that they may lose when they move off farm."

Farming couple Sharon and Graham Peck said they were satisfied with how it had worked out for their family - and they hoped their children were too.

"What we were desperate to achieve was that they didn't have to work together and so all three are completely separate," Graham said.

"So they don't have to get on, but because they don't have to get on, they do."