Conferences
Priority Programming - Leasing Education
Kelvin Leibold, Charles Brown, Timothy Christensen, Ryan Drollette , Patrick Hatting, Ann Johanns, Melissa O'Rourke, Alexis Stevens, and Gary Wright
Summary
Purpose: Over half of Iowa farmland is owned by someone who does not currently farm, of which 34% is owned by those with no farming experience, and the remaining 24% is owned by retired farmers (Zhang, 2017.) Both landowners and tenants look to the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Farm Management Team to annually provide un-biased leasing information impacting 16.8 million acres in Iowa.
Method: In July-August 2022, Farmland Leasing Meetings were offered across Iowa to address questions from landowners, tenants, and others. A 100-page leasing guidebook was prepared for attendees and meetings sites were organized with county extension professionals. Programs were offered both in-person and virtually. Topics included land values, cash rent trends, rental rate determination, legal updates including income tax exclusion, carbon credits, cost of production, land improvements, water quality, landowner-tenant communication, cyber security, mental health, and annual reports.
Results: The team planned for 85 in-person meetings and 1 virtual meeting. Participants were invited to complete an online survey after the meetings. Three key leaning objectives were assessed using a Likert scale. Top participant goals for applying what they learned were assessed included ‘increase rent;’ ‘increase the information shared between leasing parties (annual reports;),’ ‘improve communication with other parties involved in leasing arrangements;’ ‘send termination notice to end the 2022 lease terms;’ and ‘discuss and/or implement conservation strategies.’
Discussion: The Farmland Leasing meetings resonated with Iowa and out-of-state landowners. Meetings were effective in extending knowledge and supporting good decision-making based on un-biased information.
Presentation Materials
Details
| Conference | 2023 Extension Risk Management Education National Conference |
| Presentation Type | Poster |