Customer Testimonials

I met with over a hundred advisors and farmers in more than a dozen countries. Reg stood out because of the way his approach to succession puts people first.

Communication and teamwork is critical for family farm success. Reg's passion for family and business unity makes family businesses more efficient and more enjoyable to be a part of.

Estate planning can be daunting and frustrating—as a result, important jobs get postponed. As an Estate Planning Solicitor I’ve had mutual clients with Reg Shandro for years, and I’ve seen him do excellent work helping families get together, gather information, discuss family relationships, and make a plan. When Reg’s clients come to see me they are informed and ready to make decisions with confidence. It is never a lot of fun to plan for death. Reg helps ease the discomfort. Clients are generally at ease, smiling and sometimes outright laughing with relief when we meet to conclude their planning. I never hesitate to pass Reg’s card along.

When Reg comes to your house he sits down at your kitchen table, starts his projector, and the first thing he shows you is a picture of his family. Not a picture of himself and his corporate logo. He understands that your family is the core of your operation.

He sat down and genuinely listened, getting to know us like a gentleman and asking us what we wanted to happen. He then met with our entire family put us all together in the same room and made it all work. He knows how to handle the conversation, sometimes leading, sometimes helping us take a breather or breaking the ice with a useful story. He’s not cheap, but he’s good. He taught us that it is not always about equality in dollars and cents, but balance.

If you want it done right call the Farmacist. You will get a product that you will be happy with. If you follow Reg’s process you will get there, it helped solidify what we already had.

Our family’s raised hogs for over 70 years. We’ve known Reg for over 10. We already referred three families to him after calling him in for numerous jobs.

First we did a farm analysis. Then we wrote up our will and did an estate analysis and succession work. We looked at joining our farm with our son’s to see how viable that would be. Two years ago we amalgamated our operations and so far, so good. Through it all Reg had the tools we needed.

Reg’s background in banking is a real asset. The previous consultant did not have near the same depth of experience.

We signed up for a couple of Reg’s seminars. His workshop on Understanding Your Financials was very educational. He told us “Don’t just drop your books off at the accountants, take the time to understand your information.”We also went to Reg’s Succession planning where he laid out all the different things to consider.

People think they can wing it. A facilitator like Reg makes things simple. There are always two sides—two generations, two families, different ideas. Reg is respectful of the older generation, he gets everyone involved.

My brother and I took over the family farm in 1970. Our family had been on that land for 118 years. There was a lot of history and memories tied to the land but we’d known for a while that we needed to go our separate ways. Reg provided us with a steady hand to come to an equitable solution. I give Reg all the credit there.

Other consultants that I spoke with followed a set-out pattern and said this is the way you have to do things—I ended up with generic advice. Reg looks at your situation, relates to what you’re going through, and finds what works for you. It was nice to talk to someone with experience in agriculture and a banking background. He knows how to ask the right questions without a gov advisor way of doing things.

We had a family meeting—the hardest thing of the whole deal—with everyone there. Some people don’t deal with confrontation well but Reg managed the process and he reads personalities and motives real quick. Before I had to manage all the personalities, but having Reg there set me free. The kids were happier because they weren’t worried about what would happen. After that, my family got Reg to do our estate plan. Two kids don’t farm, they’re married and away—it was a process, but fair in the end. We all talk to each other and help each other out, we have a good relationship. It was a big adjustment, but we are all doing well.

Reg is not your typical consultant. He’s down to earth, easy to work with...we’ll always be friends.

The best thing my wife and I ever did was use Reg to complete our succession plan. She passed away at the age of 58 in August 2016. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best thing we ever did, but it did make the hard times easier to deal with.

Reg worked on my father’s succession plan, my in-laws’ estate plan, and my own farm’s business plan. Nobody has the skill set and experience that Reg does.

We heard Reg speak at a conference in Regina. We were overwhelmed and didn’t realize that the process of succession planning was so complex. Reg made it all seem easy though, each part of the puzzle came together. He has a story for everything, explaining experiences that he has handled in the past that made us feel at ease, like we were going in the right direction.

And the most important thing that Reg did was highlight how important family was!