Legal-Ease: Structuring your farmland lease

Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney with Schroeder Law LLC in Ottawa. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at lee@leeschroeder.com or at (419) 523-5523. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.

Farming is increasingly a risky venture, but farmland leases can provide great opportunity for both farmers and landlords. Traditionally farmers have the option of cash rent or crop-share when it comes to farmland lease arrangements. Hybrid leases have become more popular in northwest Ohio in the past few years as well. Plenty of choices exist in structuring farmland leases today, and it’s important to choose the right option for your situation.

The frequency and magnitude of change in agriculture today makes farming a riskier investment than ever. That inherent risk makes less volatile aspects of farming more critical. In this context, farmland leases can be a hidden gem of opportunity for farmers and landlords alike.

Traditionally, there were two classes of farmland lease arrangements: cash rent or crop-share. A cash rent lease provides for a fixed monetary payment to be made to the landlord each year. The rent rate does not change based upon the tenant’s success or failure. Cash rent arrangements are easy for both the landlord and tenant to administer. With some limitations, cash rent tenants can usually raise whatever crops they want where they want on the rented land.

Read Lee’s full article on farmland leases in the Lima News here: Legal-Ease: Structuring your farmland lease

Source: LimaOhio.com, Legal-Ease: Structuring your farmland lease by Lee R. Schroeder, June 20, 2014

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