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Succession Success
Sister, brother will follow in mom and dad's footsteps By
Kimberly Warren As the number of growers decreases and their ages increase, many farmers are left wondering what to do with their farm. For two New York growers, there is no question. Ed Burnap and his wife Jan purchased 50 acres in Sodus, N.Y. in 1970. The house on the land was built in 1865 and required years of work after the Burnaps gutted it to make it habitable. Through those years, they also worked to improve their 50 acres. And in 1974, they added 40 acres. All this time, both Jan and Ed were working other full-time jobs. "In 1980, we bought an actual functioning farm that actually made money," Jan Burnap said. Their three children - Kirsten, Kendra and Giff - all grew up in that house, on that land, farming. "I look back on the years that we were developing the farm," Burnap said. "It was very difficult. And every little bit of money we had went into the farm. My three children grew up not having fancy vacations, not doing a lot of traveling. Obviously, something was good because two out of three of my children wanted to come back here. Even though it may not have seemed so well at the time, something that was happening throughout their lives and the memories they have made them want to come back and raise their families on the farm." After forming an LLC with Burnap's Fruit Farm, Ed and Jan are going through the process of gifting the farm to Kendra and Giff. Kendra came back to the farm after graduating from Cornell's agriculture school and spending six years in Colorado working in the ski resort industries. After Kendra and her husband, Mike Maloney, became pregnant with their first child, they decided to move back closer to Kendra's family. And today, Mike oversees the growing end of the vegetables and small fruit. Kendra is responsible for the farm market. "We're all partners in the same business, but we have different responsibilities," Kendra said. Giff Burnap came back to the farm after graduating from the University of New Hampshire's ag school. He is responsible for growing 250 acres of apples, and Kendra said she couldn't have asked for anyone better to be her partner in the business. "I have full confidence in him as a business partner and with what he does with the apple portion of the farm," she said. Once each month, the whole family sits down together to discuss the business and make the big business decisions. But, most of the other, smaller, day-to-day decisions have been handed down to Kendra and Giff. "It's hard to take a business over from your parents when your parents are still involved. We all have different ideas and different ways of thinking. And in a lot of ways, that's good," Kendra said. "It's difficult, but it's also a blessing because my parents have been successful farmers, and we use them for guidance." Kendra did say, however, that for her parents, she believes seeing the farm continue into the second generation - and hopefully, a third - is a joy. "They were either going to have to have one of us take it over or sell it," she said. "But I think it's also a concern because their income is still very dependent on what we do every day." Jan said that she is very pleased to see her children come back to take over the farm - and even Kirsten, who lives in Massachusetts still returns every chance she gets. "It's been extremely rewarding to watch two of our children be able to communicate, work together and make something happen and do it well," Jan said. "I think that the partnering of a son and a daughter has been very, very good. My children were both educated, smart and are not afraid to work. They are extremely committed to this family business and to making it work." With Kendra and Giff came each of their spouses, and neither one was from a farming background. "They each have spouses that were non-farming people who have adjusted extremely well," Jan said. "Each child brought back a spouse who has tremendously influenced our business in incredibly positive ways. That was just something that was nice to have happen that way." Giff's wife, Mae started the lunches that the Burnap's serve at their farm market - a full line of gourmet sandwiches among other foods. She also graduated from the University of New Hampshire. She has expanded the kitchen and is in charge of accounting and bookkeeping for the farm. As the process of gifting the farm to Giff and Kendra continues, each side of the succession has handled it in their own way, and many changes have taken place. "My husband has given the reins over to my son for the most part. Giff takes care of all the apples, and my husband is becoming more and more the employee," Jan said. "It's the same with the farm market - Kendra has taken that totally over, and I don't really worry about it anymore." The whole process, Jan said, has been made possible by family communication. And, in all, she said, the process has been successful and fairly smooth. "The biggest thing with family business is communication," she said. "That has been something that we work on continually here. It is something my husband and I are constantly trying to get everybody to do." The three families - Ed and Jan; Kendra and Mike with their son and daughter; and Giff and Mae and their two daughters - all live within one mile of each other, which Kendra said gives them all their own space while keeping them close. "I think it's been very positive," Kendra said of the process. "It gives my brother and I ownership, and that helps us get out of bed in the morning." |
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