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CORVALLIS, Ore. - When it's time to pass on the family ranch, long-term planning is necessary. A continuing series of workshops will help ranch owners plan transitions from one generation to the next.

"In the first workshop, we asked ranchers what would happen if they suddenly passed away," said Bart Eleveld, an Oregon State University economist and one of the workshop organizers. "Would their ranch survive to be passed to heirs? Or would taxes and legal fees eat up so much that the ranch would have to be carved up or sold?"

The workshop series, "Ties to the Land: Succession Planning for Ranching Families," continues that conversation and is open to new and continuing participants.

Succession plans are all about communicating between spouses and generations, Eleveld noted. "What are your goals? What do you want the future to look like? How will you get there?"

The workshop series, which began in January, is helping ranching families prepare good succession plans that anticipate all possible events so that a family's goals for the future of their ranch are achieved. It is sponsored by OSU's Extension Service and Austin Family Business Program, the Oregon's Cattlemen's Association and the USDA Risk Management Agency.

The second session will be held this month and will cover financial analysis; the succession planning process; fair versus equal, and conflict resolution; appraisal and valuation discount; land trusts and charitable remainder trusts; and LLC, FLP and buy-sell agreements.

The sessions will be held at the following locations and dates:

• Prineville: Monday, April 21, at Brother's Restaurant, 1053 N.W. Madras Hwy.
• Baker City: Tuesday, April 22, at Sunridge, One Sunridge Lane
• Burns: Wednesday, April 23, at the Burns Elks Lodge No. 1680, 118 N. Broadway
• Klamath Falls: Thursday, April 24, at the Klamath Basin Research & Extension Ctr., 3328 Vandenberg Rd.
• Eugene: Friday, April 25, at the Red Lion Inn, 205 Coburg Rd.

Families who attended the first session in January have already paid their registration fees. Families who missed the first session are welcome and will be charged a $25 registration per farm. The workshop sessions will run from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at each location. Lunch will be served for an additional per-person charge collected at the door.

Those who missed the January workshop can review the Session 1 video and handouts at: http://arec.oregonstate.edu/succession.html

In addition to OSU Extension's Bart Eleveld, speakers will include: financial advisers Doug Sippel, Steve Hopkins and Harold Weight; attorney George Guyer; CPA Randy Guyer; and executive director of Oregon Rangeland Trust, Frank O'Leary.

For more information, contact the county offices of OSU Extension at workshop locations, or call 541-737-1409, or email: bart.eleveld@oregonstate.edu.