THANKS for the comments and ideas!!

Fellows I picked up some good ideas from your responses. I am not setting in the house watching the TV much. LOL Maybe too much time on the Internet.

I planted an harvested 275 acres of corn and 75 acres of soybeans. Mostly by myself. The boys use the BIG equipment but I still plant 36 inch corn so I use the big tillage stuff and then plant with a eight row JD 7000. Use the JD 6620 Side hill to harvest. Hayed about 50 acres. Still take care of the 100 brood cows and 25 replacement heifers.

So I still keep going. The issue is that I my reality has changed greatly from my "planned" retirement. I never thought about moving off the farm. Never thought my 17 year younger wife would have more health problems than me when I hit my 60s. Did not think much about the actually transition to the next generation. Just kind of thought it would "happen". Never considered the actual mechanics of it.

The instance where we had the trouble with the electric going off on the rented farm really brought it home. My middle son did not react the way I thought he should. It really was an issue on about who was going to pick up the ball and RUN!!! LOL

I talked about it with my oldest son. He is 46, just a year younger than my second wife. He pretty much farms on his own. We have worked together well. He just had an opportunity to buy his in-laws farm years ago. HE noticed his younger brothers just rarely stepped up to the plate on decisions if I was around. HE did not think it was because of me being a tyrant. It was they just where still automatically deferring to me like they did as kids.

So I got all the kids together, without any spouses. I laid out where I wanted us to go as a family. I then outlined the plan I had been working off of. Then all of us picked it apart. LOL We made a joint "plan" for us all to try to work with. We all where able to agree on where we wanted to end up but just needed to get together on how we got there.

My kids then talked it over with their spouses. A few weeks after the first meeting we all got together again with everyone that time. It went well. We all had input on what we wanted to do and how we where going to try to do it.

I meet with my sons once every two weeks in a business meeting. We go over the actual "business" records and plans. That is working too.

The hard part was realizing that I was inhibiting my younger sons from taking a more active role. So I stepped out of the day to day stuff unless it is an "BIG" emergency. They are welcome to call/talk to me at anytime but I DO NOT intervene unless asked. That is just how I chose to do it. I think this has surprised them some. It has been hard on my side. I have had to let them do stuff in ways I would not have done but that is how you learn. That goes both directions too. They have done some things that worked better than my way would have. The opposite is true too.

I still watch for BIG mistakes or missteps. I don't want them to risk too much but they do need to feel some pain from a bad move. That is what I had been doing too much of. They where too insulated from any failure.

My GREAT retirement plan had been to just keep on farming like I had always done with the kids taking over more and more as time went on. This was doomed to fail for many reasons. A big one being that I just don't want to work 60-70 hour weeks anymore. Also the reality of it taking more and more to provide for family. There needed to be better/bigger income streams to provide for their families if they become more involved.

I know this is kind of long but I wanted to out line some of what is going on. I think that many of you have had the same type of issues or will some day. The more ideas we all look at the better we all will be.

So a big THANK YOU to all the responses. It really gave me some IDEAS to think about.

Wish I had a Father like you. If I had I might still be farming today.

Takes quite a man to realize he is holding his children back, and then do something about it. Sounds to me like you are doing it right. I still think you need to come visit. You won't see many Deere machines, but you might see some Deer.

I enjoyed your post and the responses. Thanks for your candor on this and other posts! On another topic, How is that young neighbor of yours that fell out of the silo last year doing?

Per your above comments. I worked with many young aspiring engineers that flat told their boss "Tell me WHAT you want done not HOW to do it. I'll figure that out for myself." Seems you may have been intimidating the younger and I can surely understand that, not a conscience act; just comes with the genes.

And WE have to learn that there are more ways to do something besides OUR way. That one is hard to sit by and let happen.

Now why do you suppose I know what I just said? Grin

I like your business plan and meetings. That's the way it needs to be if you want to be successful, but you knew that. What I really like about it is making your plan then all you have to do is to work it. Don't even have to think about it, just work one step at a time. The finish line is there and all you have to do is to step on the stones and they will lead you to it. That's the way I work/worked. Wish mine would have been even capable of doing that. You are indeed fortunate and in having your sons follow in your footsteps.

With what you laid out as your current retirement activities, I call that work, not retirement. But the thing is to stay busy.

Nice chat.

Mark

casenut1, this isn't the place for it, but boy, I expect we could share some stories!

Some things do change with age whether we like it or not. When work gets to be hard work things need to change and it is not always easy.

I'm not ready to let go of the control yet but what you say makes sense. I tried retirement and it was boring. Now with critters to care for and fields to plant I'm a lot more active. With an aging body and a few disabilities I have been forced to rely on some help from my kids.

Rick