Succession Patterns of Farmer and Successor in Canadian Farm Families1

Abstract Two different succession patterns, the entrepreneur and the yeoman, were identified by Salamon and her colleagues (e.g., Salamon 1985; Salamon et al. 1986) among ethnic families on century farms. The applicability of this typology for succession on Canadian farms was assessed among 36 families who had transferred or were making provisions for transferring the farm. Case studies revealed patterns consistent with the Salamon typology for a quarter of our families, but the yeoman and entrepreneur styles were not the central contrast that differentiated them. Instead, two approaches to farm management were identified: the expander and the conservator. The combination of these two approaches in the older farmer and younger successor comprise four farmer-successor succession patterns: expander-expander; expander-conservator; conservator-expander; and conservator-conservator. Each style has different working relationships, succession strategies, and areas of potential difficulty.