MT. HOPE, Ohio – It takes planning to bring the next generation into the farming operation, especially when there are several children involved. During a panel discussion at the 2022 Organic Farming Conference, four area farmers – Lester and Daniel Hershberger and Ivan and Phineas Erb – shared how they made the transition from father to son on the family farm.

Ivan Erb and his wife Esther moved to his home farm in 1988 and started farming with a herd of 30 beef cows under an intensive grazing system. They also process maple syrup.

“We sold the beef cows in 2003,” Ivan said. “We started shipping Jersey milk to a local cheese house, before joining the Organic Valley Co-op in 2004.”

In 2018, Erb’s son Phineas took over the management of the herd and in 2022, Phineas and his wife Katie purchased the cows and equipment. The Erbs also produce maple syrup.

Phineas and Katie moved to Phineas’ home farm in 2020 and managed the dairy operation for over a year before they purchased the cows and chattels. They are currently renting the farm from his parents. The farm consists of 180 acres: 103 acres tillable, 85 acres in pasture and 18 acres of hay ground. They also rent an additional 75 acres for hay and sorghum Sudan. Phineas and Katie milk 50 head of dairy cows and raise their replacements on a 100 percent grass-based dairy. Currently, the herd is crossbred but Phineas is working on transitioning the herd back to purebred Jerseys.

Lester Hershberger lives on the home farm near Charm. “I worked out at a sawmill,” Lester said. “In 1992 my dad quit farming and I bought the farm.”

When his son Daniel came back to the farm, Lester stepped back from managing the farm and now helps Daniel in the fields or works in the family’s shop.

Daniel Hershberger milks 35 Jerseys on a 125-acre organic farm near Charm, Ohio. He began milking in 2017 and finished transitioning his farm to organic and started shipping organic milk earlier in 2022.

Lester Hershberger and Ivan Erb said they had a conversation with their sons when they decided to come back to the farm.

Erb has eight sons and as they got older, they took off farm jobs. 

“When Phineas came home with his girlfriend and they were planning to get married, we were paying him to work for us,” Ivan said. “We were ready to pass the farm down to the next generation, but we told him to ask Katie first. He said he was interested so he worked for us on a salary basis for a year.”

The Erbs built a house for the young couple and they took over the farm.

Hershberger said when Daniel came back to the farm, he purchased half the cattle and 18 months later he purchased the other half of the herd and the chattels.

When it came time to set a value on the cattle and chattels, Erb and Hershberger used different methods.

“Dad and I talked about it and we made a list of the cattle and the chattels,” Daniel said. “We set prices on everything and in the end, we came out pretty close, maybe there was a difference of about a thousand dollars. The thing I would do differently is I maybe wouldn’t buy some of the equipment I bought.”

Daniel added that they maintain a separate checking account for the farm. He and Lester each receive 20 percent of the income and any extra income is divided between the two families.

Lester added that they were trying to create a farm model that is family friendly and profitable so that one of his sons would be interested in farming.

 “I have a lot of good memories from the farm,” Hershberger said. “We have a sawmill as a side enterprise. I hope we can retire from the farm, but I don’t want to overcharge for the farm. Dad did finance us, but he also treated the rest of my siblings similarly.”

Hershberger added that he and Daniel have an agreement in writing that the chattels could not be sold without talking to Lester as other family members may want the opportunity to buy them.

Erb said he and Phineas also made a list of all the cattle and chattels on the farm and contacted three neighboring farmers to appraise cows and equipment on the farm. Erb said the farmers came up with an average price for everything.

Phineas had the option to pick out what he wanted to take. Ultimately, he made the decision to go to a 100 perent grass-based operation.

“I still like my corn equipment, Ivan said. “I want to transfer the farm much as dad transferred it to me, but I am not sure how we are going to pass the farm on to the next generation, but I know that we are not going to ask market value.”

Both the Erbs and Hershbergers said there are many benefits to living and working on the farm.

“I enjoy living on the farm and having the younger generation there to keep things interesting,” Lester said. “We have four generations on the farm. Our grandchildren are interested in taking the farm over. They may do things differently and things may change from one generation to the next, but we need to change things to keep moving.”

Erb said in his neighborhood there are 16 multi-generation dairy farms and nine more farms that are not milking but are still multi-generational.

“There are many benefits to passing the farm to the next generation,” Ivan said. “There are still a lot of farms around, so we shouldn’t give up on farming.”

Erb said farm profitability is important. “It is hard to move a dairy farm to a new area,” he said.

Phineas added that making the switch to a grass-based dairy made farming more enjoyable. “There are a lot of benefits,” he said.

Ivan added that there is an opportunity for the next generation to make decisions. “Part of the transition is to transition management to the next generation,” Ivan said.