Farmland leasing meetings to answer questions for Iowa landowners and tenants

Meetings will focus on the issues impacting all parties involved in leasing arrangements

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is hosting multiple farmland leasing meetings during July and August at various times and locations throughout the state, beginning July 26. The annual meeting is offered to address questions that land owners, tenants or other interested individuals have about leasing farmland.

Core components of this year’s program will be land values and cash rent trends, cost of production, methods for determining a fair rental rate, the latest legal updates that impact farm leases and land ownership (such as carbon credit contracts), and communication between tenants or landowners.

“The combination of the weather concerns and export sales have provided a significant platform for higher crop prices over the past several months,” said Chad Hart, professor in economics and extension grain markets specialist at Iowa State, in his recent Ag Decision Maker newsletter article.

“Demand signals have held strong in the face of higher prices, providing longer-term support for both crops beyond harvest. But it will be the weather forecast that sets the price table over the next couple of months,” he continued.

As Iowa agriculture looks ahead to 2022, farmland leasing meetings provide a base for decisions in rental arrangements for both tenants and landowners.

A 100-page workbook to compliment the program topics includes resources regarding land leasing agreements such as surveys, sample written lease agreements and termination forms, along with many other publications.

Local options for meetings and webinars
Participants are encouraged to plan ahead as most sites for 2021 require pre-registration Registration fees vary. To pre-register, call or email the local county extension office host site.

The leasing meetings being held across Iowa are facilitated by farm management specialists with ISU Extension and Outreach. A listing of the county offices hosting meetings is available online.

Out-of-state landowners, or those who are not able to attend a program in-person have the option to attend a statewide webinar series, starting the week of August 23, from noon to 1 p.m. each day. Topics from the regular leasing program will be presented by farm management specialists, with the opportunity to ask questions.

The series will conclude with a discussion panel comprised of ISU farm management field specialists. Paid registrations will have access to the live events, webinar recordings and electronic version of the 100-page workbook. The Ag Decision Maker meeting page will provide webinar details.

The Ag Decision Maker leasing section provides useful materials for negotiating leases, information on various types of leases, lease forms and newly updated decision tools.