Mary Swander: Taking Farm Succession Conversations on the Road

Mary Swander’s show is back on the road with the same mission: to use a unique way to get farm families across the country thinking about their succession plans. Her approach is really unique and for a good reason.

Only 56% of the farms in the United States were involved in some level of succession planning, according to the 2017 USDA Census. 

“Yeah, no, no, it’s something no one wants to talk about, because it’s money,” Swander told American Farmland Owner from her converted one-room Amish schoolhouse in Kalona, Iowa, which is now her home surrounded by her one-acre organic farm.

“And it’s death,” she continued. “We don’t talk about either one of those things, particularly in the Midwest.”

Swander’s biography reads like a LinkedIn encyclopedia of creative professional honors and achievements.

Mary Swander bio:

• Family farmer -- Kalona, Iowa

• Author of 13 books

• Artistic Director of Swander Productions – Map of My Kingdom, Vang, Farm-to-Fork Tales, and Squatters on Red Earth.

• Former Poet Laureate of Iowa

• Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame inductee – 2022

• Columnist -- Iowa Writers Collaborative. Mary Swander’s Buggy Land and Swander’s Emerging Voices.

• Agricultural podcast host -- Mary Swander’s Buggy Land.

• Executive Director -- AgArts (nonprofit that promotes healthy food systems through the arts)

• Emerita Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences – Iowa State University

• Visiting writer-in-residence -- Interlochen Arts Academy, the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Alabama. 

  
  

Swander has spent years traveling rural America with her one-person play, Map of My Kingdom, which tackles the delicate issues of land transition and family legacy. The performances are often followed by community discussions and panels that allow families to finally break the silence around succession — a silence that, left unchecked, can lead to heartbreak, lawsuits, and lost farms.

So how do you get a family to talk about something no one wants to face?

Map of My Kingdom Farm Succession Traveling Play

Swander’s creative solution: role-play. Literally.

“I divided the audience into characters: the grandpa, the grandma, the son who wants to do sustainable ag, the lesbian daughter raising pasture-fed hogs, the prodigal son who wants to sell the farm to a shopping mall,” she chuckled.

“I gave them 40 minutes to act it out in front of the group. And they were so into it,” Swander explained. “…you know your own story. You’ve heard the neighbors’ stories. You know how this can either play out really well… or be a total complete disaster.”

Farm succession planning isn’t just about who gets what: it is about values, identity, and often long-held pain. One of Swander’s earliest performances of Map of My Kingdom was in a historic courtroom in Perry, Iowa. After the show, a woman stood up, burst into tears, and cried out, “We’re going through this right now. Is there a lawyer here?”

There was.

“That conversation became public,” Swander said. “And if I’ve done any good in the world, it’s helping these families get through this and see what options there might be.”

One of those options is to work with professionals — lawyers, accountants, and especially mediators. “There are lawyers who only do farm transition. They’re incredibly helpful,” she explained.

Swander also drew inspiration from farmland mediators for the character in her play.

Farm Succession Struggles

“These mediators have heard every scenario,” Swander said. “One told me they had to hold mediation in a motel. The dad was in one room. The son-in-law in another. And they were still screaming at each other through the wall!”

It doesn’t have to be that way. Swander shared a heartening example of a family in Greenfield, Iowa. One of nine siblings told her, “We all had our ideas, then met with the lawyer. Mom and Dad sifted it out, we came back, checked in, and signed off. Done.” Swander was stunned.

“That is so fantastic. I just can’t even say how good that is,” she said.

But for every Greenfield success story, there are cautionary tales. Swander recalled a church basement reception in Maquoketa, Iowa, where ten women in their eighties sat around a table. Collectively, they owned thousands of acres. “Not one of them had a plan,” Swander said. “I’m like, no, you can’t do that! Now is the time!”

How to Make a Farm Succession Plan

What should your farm succession plan include? At minimum:

• Open, honest family discussions — preferably before a crisis

• Clear legal documents (wills, trusts, power of attorney)

• Consideration for on-farm heirs and off-farm siblings

• A team: attorney, accountant, and if needed, a trained mediator

“Families aren’t equal when it comes to the farm,” Swander noted. “It’s often hard to just divvy it up. You have to be thoughtful.”

RELATED: This American Farmland Owner story from 2023 looked at advice on how to get started with a farm succession plan.

Succession is about more than preserving assets. It is about preserving relationships, legacy, and sometimes even sanity. As Swander’s stories make clear, it’s never too early to start, but it can be too late.

As she told one couple exiting a show in their eighties who suddenly realized they still had no plan: “Sister, you need a plan.”

RELATED: This is why Mary Swander’s play, Map of My Kingdom, is back on the road. You can also find out where to see the performance.