What's In A Farm Lease?

What Does A Farm Lease Look Like?

With all that info about different kinds of farm leases I realized I never talked about what is in an actual farm lease.  A farm lease tends to be in multiple years.  Three years typically.  The reason for a multiple year lease is there is no time wasted in year to year negotiations.  And a farmer is more willing to improve the ground if he knows he has the land over the next couple of years.  If you do a year to year lease you run the risk of a farmer abusing the land to get as much out of it that year alone and not worrying about the next year.  

The lease tends to have two different forms of payment plans.  It'll have it all upfront at the beginning of the year or it will have half before planting and the other half after harvest.  Most investors like the all upfront for obvious reasons, but if you trust your farmer you may want to give him a break and do half before planting and the other half after harvest.

We highly recommend a written lease.  That way no one can suddenly come down with a case of amnesia and say they didn't agree to something.  It keeps everyone straight.  However, verbal agreements are common in the farming industry and are legally binding.

Check out the sample below of what is a typical written cropland cash lease.

If you would like more examples of share crop, cash rent plus leases one or wish to talk to us about any cropland issues don't hesitate to email us at info@ruralkc.com or call us at 913-837-4665.