Grainswest - Spring 2024

Spring 2024 Grains West 28 THE DUNCAN FAMILY FARM Coulee Ridge Farms is located on the north shore of Sylvan Lake. Owner-operators Dennis and Laurie Duncan have recently completed a succession plan. Of the couple’s four adult daughters, two of them, with their husbands, will become the next generation to manage the farm. They are Shelby and Ty Lethbridge and Darci and Matt Cole. The farmgate butts up against one of Sylvan Lake’s most popular boat launches. To fill the void following the sale of the dairy that had been central to the farm for decades, Dennis and Laurie created a boat winterization business. One year later, they launched an equipment shrink-wrapping business. Unrelated to farm transition, the thriving businesses were purchased independently by the two younger couples. At 66, Duncan knows he does not want to run the farm business forever. He’s been in the driver’s seat now for a shade more than half his life, having fully succeeded his parents in 1990. In recent years, circumstances forced him to think about some of life’s realities. “We had a couple of close friends pass away, and you realize that it can happen to any of us,” he said. Bona fide snowbirds, the Duncans were urged by their children to return home from Palm Springs during the pandemic for their own safety. It was the final push that got the succession process going. “I think COVID had a lot to do with it,” said Duncan. “That was a real mover to say, ‘Holy s---, we need to really get our ducks in a row,’ because this can happen. That’s something we all have to face: when do you start doing this? Not when you’re dead.” The Duncans’ wills were written three decades prior when their daughters were all in their single digits, and it simply said in the event of death, sell all assets and divide by four. If this remained the case, the proposition may have been nightmarish given the desires and goals each daughter has regarding the farm. Over the years, the family continued to chat informally about what a farm takeover would look like. Initially, the two non-farming daughters were fine to inherit land. However, as time went on, both decided it may be easier to take a financial payout. In contrast, the Coles and Lethbridges, who will operate the farm, will have all their equity in land, machinery and infrastructure. The money was one of the biggest worries on Duncan’s mind, though, and he admits he didn’t want to dedicate much brain space to the subject, especially because of the capital gains taxes he believed would have to be paid on the appreciated land. “You don’t even want to deal with it or think about it,” he said. Duncan also had to mentally wrap his head around the realization that fair and equal aren’t possible if a farm is going to continue. The two farming daughters have a disproportionate amount of equity in the farm, but without such an agreement, there would be no next generation. All four daughters understand this, and Duncan is grateful. “They realized that’s the direction you need to go in order to facilitate all of your mom and dad’s wishes,” he said. “Greed and all these other things play into this and can totally jeopardize and deep-six any forward movement on a farm transfer. So, my kids were fabulous that way.” The Duncans had also given their daughters a questionnaire about the farm they had received from an insurance company. The questions evoked feelings about the farm from both an emotional and business point FEATURE Dennis succeeded his own parents to operate the family’s Sylvan Lake area farm in 1990. Two of the Duncans’ four daughters and their spouses will in turn take up the family business.