Some businesses are just businesses. Others carry a name, a history, and a lot more responsibility.
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Why This Feels Personal
My family owns A.C. Schultes, a water well drilling company that has been in our family since 1921 and is now in its fifth generation. Because of that, I have always seen agriculture and business through a more personal lens. When you grow up around a family business, you realize pretty quickly that your name is tied to the work. People remember whether you showed up, whether you did the job right, and whether they would trust you again.
What Family Businesses Carry
A lot of people picture agriculture as crops, land, and equipment, but they do not always think about how many operations are still family run. According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, family owned and operated farms make up 95 percent of U.S. farms and operate 84 percent of the land in farms. That says a lot about how much family operations still shape the industry.
What stands out to me is that family businesses usually carry more than profit. They carry pressure too. There is pride behind them, but there is also responsibility. When a business has lasted that long, people expect consistency. They expect your name to mean something.
In my mind there are a few important things family businesses are built on:
- trust
- consistency
- long term thinking
- a willingness to adapt
Why It Still Matters
A business can have a long history, but that does not guarantee a future. It still takes planning, leadership, and people who are willing to carry the responsibility forward. That is why transition planning matters so much in agriculture. Keeping a family business going is not just about handing over assets. It is about handing over trust, decision making, and the pressure that comes with keeping something alive.
Family businesses are not just part of the history of agriculture. They are still a huge part of what keeps it moving now.
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