52 min
"Groundwork" Episode 2: Farm Succession in Northeast Montana Reframing Rural
-
- Documentary
After a lifetime farming wheat on the Northern Great Plains, the time has come for Russ Torgerson to retire. In this narrative episode, Reframing Rural producer Megan Torgerson shares the intimate journey of her family’s farm succession, giving listeners an inside look into the emotional, legal and financial factors at play with succession planning. Curious what the next generation of farmers are facing, Megan also interviews the Jorgensens, another farm family from NE Montana who is transferring the management of their farm to their son Tanner. What happens in the transitional space between a farms’ present caretaker and the next? What becomes of a community when, voluntarily or not, a farmer surrenders their plow. And what does the next generation need in order to keep their families’ multigenerational farms going are all questions this episode seeks to explore.
After a lifetime farming wheat on the Northern Great Plains, the time has come for Russ Torgerson to retire. In this narrative episode, Reframing Rural producer Megan Torgerson shares the intimate journey of her family’s farm succession, giving listeners an inside look into the emotional, legal and financial factors at play with succession planning. Curious what the next generation of farmers are facing, Megan also interviews the Jorgensens, another farm family from NE Montana who is transferring the management of their farm to their son Tanner. What happens in the transitional space between a farms’ present caretaker and the next? What becomes of a community when, voluntarily or not, a farmer surrenders their plow. And what does the next generation need in order to keep their families’ multigenerational farms going are all questions this episode seeks to explore.
52 min