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This chapter focuses on Norwegian farm families by analysing succession patterns across generations and genders in “beanpole” families, i.e. those with several living generations (Brannen, Moss, & Mooney, 2004). The focus is on transfer of property in the case of farm families and its importance for gender relations. Succession here refers to the transfer of farm management control, which may be seen as a continuous, multi-phase process in farm families which begins when the successor is young with gradual assumption of specific responsibilities within the farm business (Symes, 1990). One aim of the chapter is to connect changes in succession praxis in the case of farm families in Norway with the societal changes of three-four generations over the twentieth century. The dynamics of families and households are regarded as key elements of issues such as farm structure (Bengtson, 2001; Bokemeier, 1997; Hareven, 1996; Willson, Shuey, & Elder, 2003), and farm families offer an interesting case for examining intergenerational relations (Brandth, 2002; Elder, Rudkin, & Conger, 1995; Elder, Robertson, & Rudkin, 1996; Lee & Cassidy, 1981; Melberg, 2003).

Family farms, in which business and family life are intricately interwoven, offer an interesting context for better understanding the interdependence between the family and business system. Many family farms struggle to survive, and the succession process is a key period in which the low returns on investment become evident but also the emotional attachment of the family to the farm and the willingness to transfer the business to the next generation. We take the perspective of non-succeeding siblings since they are crucial for a successful succession but their role and position in this process is far from clear. This study will help to increase our knowledge of how fairness is perceived by non-successors and of the impact of perceived (in)justice on the family business system.

To analyze the effect on sibling relationships of an unequal outcome of the succession process, we choose the family farm context. We used interview data from multiple family members from several family farms in the Netherlands in different stages of succession. We utilized a framework based on justice theory to analyze perceptions of fairness among non-succeeding siblings. The central research question for this study is as follows: How do non-succeeding siblings perceive justice with regard to family firm succession?

The acceptance of the outcomes of the succession process by non-succeeding siblings is influenced by their perception of the fairness of the process itself and decisions made by the incumbent and successor with regard to these outcomes. It seems that stakeholders who occupy multiple roles with conflicting justice perspectives handle these contradictions with the help of an overarching goal—in this study, preserving the continuity of the family farm—and by prioritizing and adjusting the justice perspectives accordingly. The findings further show that both distributive justice and procedural justice are important and interact with each other.

Our study contributes to the literature by applying the theoretical framework of distributive and procedural justice to the context of family farm succession. This helps us to understand the position of non-succeeding siblings and their role and position in the succession process, which is important because sibling relationships have a significant impact on family harmony, with potential consequences for the business as well.

In Switzerland farm succession is predominantly patrilinear and controlled by a patriarchal system of succession. A postal survey on farm succession in Switzerland in 2004 elucidated the gender patterns of conditions of succession: the current share of female farm operators stands at 6%. There are no trends towards change. The number of potential female successors ready to take over the farm in the next generation cited by the present operator is again 6% (Rossier & Wyss, 2006). In Switzerland by law women and men are considered equal in all ambits of life. The Act on Gender Equality came into force in 1996. Since then all federal laws that treated women differently from men have been amended.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the benefits of utilizing teams of personal and financial consultants to work with farm families in New York State on issues affecting farm business performance.

Program experience in implementing an integrated consulting model provides a framework for illustrating how such a model may be utilized on farms and other family businesses for succession planning.

An integrated personal and financial consulting model is effective in producing lasting business results such as business growth, improved profitability, and reduced interpersonal conflict on farms in New York State.

Farmers employ a multitude of risk management tools, such as crop insurance, to reduce various types of risk affecting their farm businesses in New York State, but an area often overlooked by farmers is managing human resource risk, namely succession risk. As the average age of farmers in the USA continues to increase, employing new tools and strategies is critical when developing an effective business succession plan for farmers.

This study investigated the succession process in small and medium family farms as two distinct but related processes of management transfer and ownership transfer. Past studies focused on the broad subject of succession, without dissecting succession into the components that it contains. Furthermore, this study aimed to evaluate which business, family and owner characteristics were significant in the progress of each process toward the actual transfer of management and ownership.

Telephone interviews were conducted to gather information from rural family businesses in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. A bivariate ordered probit regression was utilized to model the processes of management and ownership transfer as separate but related processes. Both management transfer and ownership transfer were modeled utilizing three distinct stages of transfer.

Business and owner characteristics were significant to both management and ownership transfer, whereas family characteristics only influenced ownership transfer. Farm family businesses that discussed goals, identified a successor and were educated on how to start the transfer process were more likely to have made progress in both management and ownership transfer.

The authors contribute empirically to the literature by modeling the components of the succession process, management transfer and ownership transfer, as separate but interrelated processes. The authors specifically investigate which business, owner and family characteristics influence the progression of management and ownership transfer in farm family businesses.

The purpose of the paper is to present a case example of the power struggles and gender issues one daughter faced when she became a partner, and future successor, in the family business. This paper uses an ethnographic approach in order to study a small family farm in England. The case focuses on a small family farm, these businesses are unique in terms of their values and expectations for succession (Haberman and Danes, 2007), and identified by Wang (2010) as a fruitful avenue for research on daughter succession.

The empirical work was gathered through the use of a single site ethnographic case study involving participant observation as the researcher worked on the family farm and semi-structured interviews with family members over two years.

The results shed light on some of the social complexities of small family farms and power struggles within the family exacerbated by perceived gender issues. The work also highlights the potential threat to the daughter’s position as a partner, from her father’s favouritism of male employees.

Institutions that provide help to family farm businesses need to be aware of the potential power issues within the family specifically related to gender, particularly in terms of succession planning.

Using ethnography in family firms allows the researcher to be a part of the real-life world of family farmers, providing rich data to explore daughter succession.

Marshall (1950, p. 10) saw civil citizenship rights as concerning individual liberties, such as freedom of speech, property ownership rights, personal liberties and rights to justice. Women obtained many of these rights only after the acknowledgement of their political citizenship (Walby, 1997, p. 175) and much later than men did. Civil citizenship includes a whole range of issues which cannot be covered in this book. This book focuses on the gender aspects of ownership and land succession. Land succession is interrelated with a series of other civil citizenship rights issues such as access to training and education. While succession is also interrelated with issues of social (social security eligibility), economic (division of labour in the families) and political (political participation and representation) citizenship issues, these relations are to be discussed later.

Beginning farmers and ranchers (BFRs) are more likely to access land through an unrelated landowner than through family. Thus, farm and ranch owners who might transfer their land or businesses out of family are potential sources of land access for BFRs and are the most frequent participants in incentive programs to facilitate land transfer to BFRs. To assist in identifying landowners who might transfer out of family, the paper aims to explore similarities and differences between landowners according to their expectations for intra-familial versus extra-familial farm transfer.

Pairwise and regression analysis of USA Midwestern and Plains landowners' responses to an online survey (n = 322).

Landowners who might transfer out of family were likely to need the proceeds from a land sale to finance their retirement. Landowners' financial needs interacted with their widespread interest in transferring to a BFR such that 97% of owners who expected extra-familial transfer wanted to transfer to a BFR. There were also statistical patterns around the size of owners' landholdings in relation to their transfer plans.

This exploratory inquiry suggests patterns for future research to examine, especially around landowners' juxtaposition of their retirement income and their interest in transferring to a BFR and how to align these priorities and values.

By exploring the characteristics of landowners who are the most likely to provide land access to BFRs, the authors begin to examine how to target these owners in program outreach. Patterns for further exploration point to landowners' financial needs in relation to their interest in helping a BFR to get started in agriculture.

This volume looks at the construction of gendered citizenship in different rural contexts: under different welfare and gender regimes, and different rural and agricultural conditions. Through applying the concepts of the welfare state and gender regimes within rural research, this book contributes to the further development of a comparative theoretical framework for rural gender studies. The importance of integrating rural gender studies into both the mainstreams of rural and feminist research has been emphasized in previous volumes, as has that of developing comparative analytical frameworks (Whatmore, Marsden, & Lowe, 1994, p. 2; Brandth, 2002; Shortall, 2006). The conceptual framework adopted in this volume sets out to meet this challenge by approaching rural gender relations as the meeting point of two core research areas: feminist research into gender regime studies and research on rural transformative processes. Research into gender regimes offers a promising analytical framework for comparing gender relations in diverse rural settings. By formulating gender relations in terms of citizenship rights, this approach elevates the concerns of rural gender relations to broader discourses located at the nation state level (Werbner & Yuval-Davis, 1999; Asztalos Morell, 1999a). The evolution of citizenship rights at the nation state level has created hegemonic frameworks that are able to influence and transform rural gender relations. At the same time, by addressing rural concerns, deriving from the specificity of rural transition processes and gender regimes, the approach also contributes to an elucidation of the complexity of citizenship. In accordance to current debates emphasizing the embedded nature of gender relations with other social forces of differentiation, such as age, class and ethnicity (Walby, 1997; Hobson & Lister, 2002) we aimed to elucidate how gendered citizenship is constituted in the rural context.

The present study investigates the contribution to farm women's empowerment of the ‘young farmers’ programme that has been run by the Greek state since the early 1990s. The ‘young farmers’ programme aims to attract young people (men as well as women) into agriculture in order to renew the aged farming population, providing economic incentives to young people (up to 40 years old) entering farming or to newly established young farmers. The programme is based on Chap. II, article 8, Reg. 1257/99 (and the previous structural regulations) and operates through the Community Support Frameworks implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food. The Ministry also provides a number of supplementary national incentives to young people wishing to become established in agriculture (Law 2520/97).