Farmland leasing is a popular topic of conversation year round in Iowa with much of Iowa farmland under a rental agreement. Ag Decision Maker has a multitude of information relating to leasing arrangements under the Whole Farm – Leasing section, https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wdleasing.html .
Ag Decision Maker (AgDM) includes rental rate surveys, forms, and information on agreements and types of leases. Survey information includes farmland cash rental rate surveys from ISU Extension and Outreach and USDA, and historical county cropland cash rental rates. Forms are available for lease agreements; lease supplements for farm, conservation, and drainage improvements; and farm lease termination notice. Information on types of leases covers cash, flexible cash, crop share, pasture, building, storage, or beef cow leases. Additional information related to leasing arrangements is available on improving a farm lease contract, legal considerations, farm resumes or newsletters, and self-employment tax.
Ag Decision Maker Resources:
Resources that are commonly requested related to farmland leasing include the following publications.
ISU Farmland Cash Rental Rate Survey includes cash rental rates for the listed year by state, region, and county. Rates are represented for tillable farm ground, hay, oats, corn stalk grazing, and hunting rights.
Computing a Cropland Cash Rental Rate explains ways to compute to a farmland cash rental rate.
Flexible cash leases a topic that has brought about an increase of questions and interest over the past few years. The publication Flexible Farm Lease Agreements lays the groundwork for these types of leases. The publication Flexible Cash Rent Lease Examples gives additional examples of flexible cash lease agreements.
A farmland lease contract is an agreement between two or more individuals; the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation provides insight to the legal and taxation issues surrounding farmland leases in the publication Iowa Farm Leases – Legal, Economic, and Tax Considerations.
Ag Lease 101 a product of the North Central Farm Management Extension Committee which is represented by several universities across the Mid-West. On Ag Lease 101 under the documents tab, individuals can find lease publications and forms for fixed and flexible cash, crop share, pasture, and beef cow rental arrangements.
Web Soil Survey (WSS) is a resource that provides soil data and information. Individuals can use WSS to find the soil types and related information for their farm. Assistance for using Web Soil Survey to map and find Iowa Corn Suitability Ratings is also available on the Ag Decision Maker website.
These documents and the information on AgDM can get an individual started on setting a farmland cash rental rate for the following lease year. Your local ISU Extension and Outreach Farm Management Field Specialist can assist with individual questions; you can find the specialist in your area by clicking on the respective county or area on the map on the following webpage, https://www.extension.iastate.edu/ag/farm-business-management-0.
An agricultural economics and business website.
