On the frontlines of farm succession

MADISON, Wis. — Becoming an owner in their family’s farms did not come without conflict for Josie Riser and Annie Link. The process was long and difficult and tested relationships. But in the end, both dairy farmers were happy with the result and said it was what was best for the business long term.

Riser, of JoBo Farms, and Link, of Swisslane Farms, shared their farm succession experiences March 5 during a session facilitated by Kurt Petik, senior relationship manager at Rabo AgriFinance, at the Professional Dairy Producers Business Conference in Madison.

Riser and her family milk 1,100 cows and farm 1,000 acres near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Riser’s parents, John and Bonnie Hess, are the first generation and are involved with the business. Riser makes up the second generation along with her sister, Joy Widerman, and her brother-in-law, Dale Brown Jr.

Riser’s daughter, Jocelyn Prazenica, came on as a partner Jan. 1, representing the third generation.

When Riser’s parents formed a partnership with their children in 2000, Riser said a lot of meetings and discussions took place prior to this.

“It was a rough start, but the longer it got, the better it got,” she said. “I don’t think there’s any perfect scenario out there.”

When Riser entered the partnership, she brought in cows and so did her brother-in-law, while her brother brought in his chopping business.

“That’s how we determined our share in partnership, and over the years, Mom and Dad gifted so much to each of us as well,” Riser said.

When Riser’s brother, who was also a partner, was killed in an accident in February 2025, it left a hole in the family and the business.

“That does change some things drastically,” Riser said. “Make sure you have in your business plans how you deal with a death. We did, and it made life a lot easier.”

Riser said her brother always wanted to be moving forward.

“We had plans to build the next dairy barn and milk more cows, and we are now back on track for that and getting that rolling,” Riser said. “There was a struggle with some of the partners because they didn’t agree.
You just have to take one day at a time and move forward.”

Riser and her family carefully crafted their partnership documents. They made sure to write into their contract what happens if somebody wants to get out of the partnership or gets sick and can no longer work. Riser said all partners carry a $1 million life insurance policy, which can help pay off the estate in the case of a death.

Equipment, cows and buildings are in the partnership, but the land belongs to Riser’s parents. Last year, the land was put in a trust, and if something were to happen to her parents, the trust would be run by the partnership.

Based near Alto, Michigan, Link and her family milk 5,300 cows on four sites and farm 6,930 acres. Link and her cousins, Tommy Oesch and Matt Oesch, make up the fourth generation at Swisslane. Senior partners include Link’s father, Fred Oesch, and two of her uncles, Tom Oesch and Jeff Oesch.

The Links’ first family succession meeting took place in 2004. In 2012, the fourth generation entered ownership when Tommy and Matt signed on as partners along with Link’s husband, who exited in 2014. Link joined the operation in 2014 and became a partner in 2016. She said it was challenging for her in the beginning, with one uncle telling her she did not meet two of the requirements for ownership.

“What we say is that you need alignment within the generation; it’s OK to not be aligned between generations,” Link said. “They can be different and should be different. Tommy, Matt and I were aligned, and we figured it out.”

One uncle did not have any heirs who were part of the business, which Link said made things complicated when transitioning the business from the senior partners to her generation.

When they expanded in 2021, the family revised its succession plan to include the value at which Link and her cousins would buy out the senior partners.

Swisslane holdings include land, cattle and operations. Senior partners now have trusts, while Link, Matt and Tommy have another entity that is slowly buying shares of Swisslane holdings and making distributions into the senior partners’ shares.

“Going forward, we’re going to pull the land out separate from the operations and do lease payments back to back to be a little more flexible,” Link said.

The senior partners’ ownership became what would be considered preferred stock; therefore, their value is not growing with the profits of the business. Link’s generation is getting the appreciated value from the growth of the business and is paying out based on that.

“They took a discount, and we took a discount,” Link said.
“Our financial accountant told us, ‘When neither side is happy, that’s when you know you have the right answer.’”

Link and her partners are now focusing on the education, development and leadership of the next generation. There are 11 kids between Link, Tommy and Matt, who could potentially be part of the fifth generation, which is expected to enter ownership in 2030. The family’s goal is to be milking 10,000 cows by 2032.

A mixture of secondary education and off-farm work experience, along with time spent managing within the business, is required before being considered for ownership by age 28. Members of the next generation are assigned a specific role.

“When we came back, we didn’t have any of that structure, an organizational chart, job descriptions or departments,” Link said. “We went through a lot of strategic planning sessions and used a lot of consultants to get that structure figured out.”

Link said they will need to get more creative when bringing on new partners. They will not all be able to come in equally, as Link and her partners did. They have created another entity for land and will slowly transfer land to the next generation.

Family members wanting to become owners at JoBo Farms are required to work elsewhere for two years after their last schooling is completed. Once they return, they cannot become a partner for five years. The next generation is being brought in at a gifted yearly rate of 2%.

“While it worked for our generation to gift to the next generation, it will not continue to work that way with them coming in at 2%,” Riser said. “We’re not asking people coming in to gift to the next generation. Gifting is on our generation to do.”