Reframing Rural Season 4: Succession Stories

SEASON FOUR
Succession Stories

Over the next 20 years, it's estimated that one-third of all farmland in the lower 48 states will change hands. (American Farmland Trust Farmland Information Center)

Aging farmer demographics, rising land values, climate change and farm stress are creating a challenging environment for the successful transfer of farms and ranches to the next generation. Behind the legal, financial and familial considerations of farm and ranch transition, lies a wellspring of stories that do not often surface in conventional planning discussions. In Season Four, Reframing Rural unearths the stories laying beneath the logistics, stories from families navigating complex social and environmental factors as they work to preserve their agricultural way of life.

Succession Stories is created
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Episodes

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EPISODE ONE
A Diagnosis and a Deadline

When Howie Hammond learned he might only have months to live, he and his daughter Andrea had to make quick decisions about the future of their family's farm and ranch.

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Gene and Grandson Clark May 2000 at the Sober Up ( Ryan) Ranch. (1).jpg

EPISODE TWO
My Way or the Highway

When it came time for Gene Curry to pass his operation to the next generation, he found himself facing a challenge that demanded something ranch life had never asked of him before: softening his dominant personality and learning to let go.

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EPISODE THREE
From Sand to Soil

Determined not to repeat the past, Ryan and Abbey Bruski paired ecological regeneration with a new approach to family planning, creating clear roles, business structures, and a succession plan designed to give future generations clarity.

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EPISODE FOUR
The Messy Middle

When Jake Fritz moved back home at 19, four generations were trying to make a living off the same piece of ground near Chester, Montana. This episode follows Jake and his mom Dena through an era of transition across multiple generations.

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EPISODE FIVE
Back to Grass

Sig Pugrud’s ranch sits on a high bench above Flatwillow Creek, in one of the least-populated counties in the U.S. Her family homesteaded in Petroleum County, MT in 1910, surviving the Dust Bowl, the '80s farm crisis, and decades of economic uncertainty with a combination of grit and creativity.

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Extras

A Roadmap to Farm and Ranch Succession Planning

You've heard the stories of succession planning from families around MT this season, and now you're ready to start thinking about succession planning for your own family's farm or ranch. In this bonus episode, we bring you a practical roadmap for getting started.

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Cowboy Poet Jim Hamilton Reads "The Changing of the Guard"

Jim Hamilton, the first voice heard in the Season Four preview, reads his succession poem "The Changing of the Guard," about a rancher having a hard time letting go.

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