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Advice on cash rent lease language….

Rous14

Rous14

PMA Member
Have a new farmer/tenant that I’m leaning towards leasing my small tillable ground (19 ac) to. Have a fairly “boiler plate” lease contract that I’m reviewing and hoped to get some advice from those that have been through it before. I think I have most things covered but I’m sure I may not be thinking of something. Highlights as of now:

- I have a baseline soil sample that the prior tenant had done a year or two ago so using that to ensure new tenant maintains soil properly
- tenant to provide documentation annually of fertilizer/lime inputs
- language about not cutting any trees for any reason (probably not necessary but better safe than sorry)
- tenant cant sub lease

wasnt sure from a payment standpoint what is customary? Payment in full at beginning of each years lease (which per contract is Nov 1 to Nov 1 three years total) or should it be broke in two equal payments in spring and fall?? Talking less than $5k total rent annually

any other blind spots I should be aware of be sure is in contract?
 
I only have experience with 1 year of renting out tillable, so I am far from an expert. 30 acres tillable, I was paid all upfront in March before it was even planted.
 
Might want to add into it the hunting hunts. The farm we rent to crop we have hunting rights from the owner. Its written into contract. The farm I own and do not farm myself (which seems dumb but its a distance thing) I maintain hunting rights as the owner. Add date payment is due. For that small amount I would stick with once a year, probably march. I pay twice a year because its a larger amount. Dec and Mar. You can get pretty in-depth with it all. There is a rental agreement you can print of from ISU or have a lawyer draw one up. Depends on how good of relationship you will have with who is farming it. The guy farming mine wanted simple and easy but in writing and I trust him fully.
 
Lease is for row crop production only. Does not include hunting rights.
USDA Commodity payments to tenant.
Yield information to be shared with owner if requested
Tenant responsible to certify crop with USDA
Owner has right to remove any portion of ground and enroll in CRP. rented acres/payment to be adjusted accordingly
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
Lease is for row crop production only. Does not include hunting rights.
USDA Commodity payments to tenant.
Yield information to be shared with owner if requested
Tenant responsible to certify crop with USDA
Owner has right to remove any portion of ground and enroll in CRP. rented acres/payment to be adjusted accordingly
Click to expand...
Yes, working from memory here, but I think unless you explicitly reserve hunting/trespass rights in the signed lease agreement that it defaults to the tenant. You would not want to lose that access to your own land I presume.
 
I have the following in my leases…

*Current Owner maintains all hunting and recreational use of the property.

*Owner may add CRP acres within the contract period. All crop/tillable acres within the contract will be reduced by number of CRP acres according to FSA.
 
I would put in that no bailing of residue as well. Also if you want cover crops planted. Maybe also add if you don't want it to be cut for silage. Just a couple things I add
 
Mine all run March - March and I just use a stock one from the internet. I can PM it if you'd like. I understand why you would want the soil sample part, but it just seems like it will lead to drama down the road if you really try to enforce it. Doesnt hurt to keep it included though.

Its hard to know if you're not local to the area, but just using a larger, reputable row crop farmer in the area will void you of a lot of ticky tack headaches that you hear about. From my experience, those bigger guys will typically take care of your soil like its theirs too
 
If income was not a primary objective and hunting was.... I would consider requiring a cover crop of your choice. Also that no fall disking of waste grain or organic material till after hunting season. A tilled under corn field in November sucks.
 
Snail3496 said:
Its hard to know if you're not local to the area, but just using a larger, reputable row crop farmer in the area will void you of a lot of ticky tack headaches that you hear about. From my experience, those bigger guys will typically take care of your soil like its theirs too
Click to expand...
I also think you have a better chance of a reputable big farmer taking care of your ground as well, but you may not have enough ground to really interest them unless it's ground next to something they already plant, but you never know.
Some good advice in this thread... I'd cherry pick what's important to you.
 
I would recommend having an attorney draft a lease. As an attorney myself, that may seem like somewhat self-interested advice, but there are many provisions/restrictions/clauses that need to be considered. By having an attorney draft your lease you are also getting the added benefit of the ability to pursue a malpractice claim against that attorney if he/she fails to provide sound advice. An attorney that practices near the area of the property you are leasing can also provide insight as to common rental rates and tenant farmers to avoid. Additionally, when tenant farmers know that their landlord utilizes professional advice, as opposed to a downloaded google contract, they typically behave better.
 
I would always add language that any ground ever enrolled in CRP automatically terminates those acres & rights once crops come off. Saves a step & hassle from the FSA asking u to track down renter later & get them to sign as required by all CRP contracts now.
 
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