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The well-known advantages of business entities include liability protection, tax management, and shared management responsibilities. A lesser-known advantage is the relative ease of transferring ownership. When assets such as land, machinery, or livestock are held in an entity like an LLC, ownership interests in the entity can often be transferred far more efficiently than transferring each asset individually.
Although farm transition planning often focuses on passing assets smoothly from one generation to the next, in some cases, it may be preferable to skip a generation and distribute assets to the following generation. A Generation Skipping Trust (GST) is an estate planning tool that allows a farm owner to do so.
Over the past several years, numerous lawsuits have been filed against the Monsanto Company regarding the safety of its herbicide Roundup and its main ingredient glyphosate. On January 16, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States granted the Monsanto Company’s petition to review one of these cases from the Missouri Court of Appeals, Durnell v. Monsanto Company.
Background of the case
By David Marrison - Field Specialist, Farm Management
A collaboration of several agricultural organizations have established the Ohio Farm Transition Network, a new endeavor to promote farm transition planning in Ohio. The following is the press release announcing its launch:
Ohio Farm Transition Network Launches to Strengthen Farm Succession Planning Across Ohio
Farmers already face an onslaught of challenges: fluctuating markets, unpredictable weather, labor shortages, equipment breakdowns, regulatory demands, and tight finances. Federal financial crime regulations do not usually rank high on their list of concerns.
By: David Marrison, OSU Extension Field Specialist, Farm Management
The early bird registration deadline of February 1 is nearing for agricultural professionals interested in attending the International Farm Transition Network’s (IFTN) Certified Farm Succession Coordinator Training on April 20-22 in Wooster, Ohio. The registration fee for this program is $900 prior before February 1 and will increase to $999 thereafter. Only 9 seats are available for this training.
Training Details
Written by Staci N. Gamble, Research Fellow with the National Agricultural Law Center and law student at Florida A&M College of Law, and Ellen Essman
When it comes to starting a new business venture in Ohio, the first major hurdle is choosing a legal structure. The Ohio Secretary of State recently released business formation data that highlights a substantial trend in how new business owners are organizing their business affairs.
The numbers are clear: the Limited Liability Company (LLC) is the undisputed king of Ohio business. According to the latest data, the breakdown of new businesses registered in Ohio in 2025 is as follows:
We’ve been fielding many questions and concerns about the development of data centers and its potential impacts on agriculture and communities across Ohio. Newly proposed legislation indicates that lawmakers are hearing the same. House Bill 646, introduced on January 15 in the House of Representatives by Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) and Rep. Kellie Deeter (R-Norwalk), would establish a Data Center Study Commission to examine data center development in Ohio.
