Farm owners put seemingly endless time, work and expertise into their land and business. Despite all their dedication, research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service shows 97% of the 2.1 million farms in the United States are family owned. But only 30% of those farms succeed to the next generation, and only 12% pass down to a third generation as a farm inheritance. The research also shows most farmers (69%) expected to pass down their farm to their heirs, but only 23% had made a farm estate planning strategy.