Start Here
PDF Conversation guide
10 Questions to Ask When Farmland Is the Fortune
Start with the questions that help a family clarify fairness, responsibility, liquidity, and what the land should make possible.
The American Family Farmland Resource Library
Clearer Conversations.
More Confident
Farmland Decisions.
Practical, values-first guides for landowning families—and the professionals helping them move forward.
Free PDF guides.
Guides, worksheets & conversation tools
Find a useful place to start.
Choose the question that matters most right now. Download a guide, share it, and bring it to the next conversation.
Showing all 10 resources
Family & Fairness
PDF Discussion worksheet
Fair Is Not Always Equal
Explore the perspectives of on-farm and off-farm heirs before discussing how to divide the land or its value.
Income & Cash Flow
PDF Liquidity checklist
Farmland-Rich, Cash-Poor
Identify cash needs and available income so the advisory team can see where the plan needs more work.
Succession & Options
PDF Decision worksheet
Keep, Lease, Restructure, Conserve, or Sell?
Compare possible pathways against the family’s priorities rather than starting with a keep-or-sell debate.
Values & Legacy
PDF Values worksheet
LAND VALUES: A Conversation Guide
Use the ten LAND VALUES categories to put financial priorities, family relationships, and stewardship into a shared conversation.
Meetings & Decisions
PDF Meeting planner
The Family Farmland Meeting Guide
Prepare for two focused conversations: first clarify goals and facts, then compare pathways and agree on next steps.
Meetings & Decisions
PDF Team-mapping guide
The Farmland Advisor Team: Who Does What?
Understand how legal, tax, trust, financial, insurance, and farmland professionals can contribute to the plan.
Start Here
PDF Getting-started guide
The First 90 Days After Inheriting Farmland
Organize the people, documents, questions, and near-term responsibilities that deserve attention after an inheritance.
Succession & Options
PDF Succession guide
What If No One Wants the Farm?
Explore the next chapter when there is no clear farming successor, without assuming the only answer is a sale.
Meetings & Decisions
PDF Decision-making guide
Who Gets a Vote?
Separate input, information, ownership, and management roles—and identify decision authority to confirm with counsel.
No guides match those filters.
Try a broader topic or return to the full library.
For estate planning & wealth professionals
You guide the family. These tools support the conversation.
Your clients bring more than acreage to the table. They bring different needs, expectations, and ideas about legacy. Use these resources alongside your expertise to help them name what matters before choosing a path.
Discuss a client’s farmland situationA farmland specialist alongside your team—not a replacement for legal, tax, trust, or financial counsel.
Make the next meeting more useful
A simple way to use the guides
01
Share before the meeting.
Give each family member the same questions and space to reflect.
02
Compare what matters.
Bring different needs and shared priorities into the conversation.
03
Document the next step.
Clarify open questions, responsibilities, and the next meeting.
Forthcoming contribution
October 2026
October 2026
When Farmland Is the Fortune: A Framework for Advisors
NAEPC Journal of Estate & Tax Planning
Visit the media page 
The conversation beyond the worksheet
A thoughtful companion
for the next chapter.
American Family Farmland: Preserving Values and Creating Wealth by Johnny Klemme explores the stories and values conversations behind these resources. Keep it alongside the guides as your family—or the family you advise—considers what comes next.
A little guidance before you begin
Common questions.
There is no single right starting point. Begin with the guide that fits the conversation in front of you.
Which resource should we start with?
The “10 Questions to Ask When Farmland Is the Fortune” guide is a broad starting point. For a specific concern, use the topic filter to find resources on fairness, values, meetings, cash flow, or succession.
Are the downloads free?
Yes. The guides are free. To download an individual guide, please provide your name and email so we can share helpful resources and follow up when appropriate.
Can I share these guides with family or clients?
Yes. Use the guides in family and client planning conversations, and keep the author attribution and educational notes intact. Share the resource-library page so others can find the current versions.
Do we need to be considering a sale?
No. The guides support conversations about holding, leasing, restructuring, conserving, or selling farmland. Their purpose is to help clarify priorities, not steer a family toward a predetermined outcome.
Do these guides replace professional advice?
No. They are educational conversation tools, not individualized legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. Bring the questions they raise to qualified professionals. Existing documents, authority, obligations, and deadlines still need professional review.
You don’t need every answer
to take a thoughtful next step.
Start with a few good questions. Let the conversation begin there.