CRP versus back into crop rotation?

[Dukslayr]

I have 125 acres on one of my farms that will have expiring CRP contracts starting in 2021 and ending in 2023. Some of this land lies very nicely to be tilled and some does not. I am in the early stages of deciding whether to pull it all out, try to reenroll all of it, or re-enroll the poorly lying areas and maybe filter strips the farm the rest. Obviously all of this is assuming there are funds for CRP enrollment in the next couple years. Ultimately around half my CRP would likely make good crop ground; lies well and much of it terraced. The CRP is fairly clean as is and the remaining cleanup (Field edges mostly) will be done before contracts expire.
My questions are the following:

1. If you have someone farm your land do you cash rent or operate shares and why do you prefer the way you do it?
2. How did you go about finding your tenant farmer and what kinds of questions did you ask (other than how much you’ll get paid) ahead of time to make sure he/she would take good care of your property and soils?
3. If you have a crop share agreement what percentage do you get and how do you verify you’re getting your “fair share”?

I know there’s a ton of variability here but I’m curious to hear from those who have gone through this before and what you’ve learned through the process. Thank you for any input/feedback you have on the above questions!

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I’d farm what should be and Re enroll in CRP what shouldn’t be.


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[Dukslayr]

I’d farm what should be and Re enroll in CRP what shouldn’t be.


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That’s my plan. Just trying to figure out the farming side...the rest of my farms are in CRP so familiar with that process but haven’t dealt with negotiating a good partnership to put land back into production. I would like it to be a good deal for both of us and the tenant to take good care of my land.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I’d try to find a dairy farmer to rent to.


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[swat1018]

I cash rent, not too many people I would farm on the shares with.

Have a contract, stipulate the rent price, and the payment dates. I stipulate no fall plowing, and how much crop the farmer will leave for the deer and that I only want no-till beans. I also would have a plan to address fertilization. Many farmers who cash rent don't fertilize rented ground as they would their own. I would pull a soil test and check the base line fertility and pull additional tests every 3 years, or so. I tell the farmer that is how I operate, it keeps everyone honest. To me, price per acre is one of the lesser items, if I can get crop left, no fall plowing, etc, I agree to a little less $/acre.

The last time I was looking to replace a tenant farmer I went to the FSA office and asked who a good, young farmer was. I thought if I got a good young farmer, he might appreciate the acreage more than a big farmer.

 

[buckdeer1]

We do on thirds and this works if you know the farmer well.Mine is actually now my son in law.In Kansas you need to put in your contract that you still maintain the recreational rights and all the farmer gets are ag rights.This keeps a farmer from leasing the ground.FSA will tell you what cash rent is in your area.In my part of Kansas very few do it.

 

[Dukslayr]

I cash rent, not too many people I would farm on the shares with.

Have a contract, stipulate the rent price, and the payment dates. I stipulate no fall plowing, and how much crop the farmer will leave for the deer and that I only want no-till beans. I also would have a plan to address fertilization. Many farmers who cash rent don't fertilize rented ground as they would their own. I would pull a soil test and check the base line fertility and pull additional tests every 3 years, or so. I tell the farmer that is how I operate, it keeps everyone honest. To me, price per acre is one of the lesser items, if I can get crop left, no fall plowing, etc, I agree to a little less $/acre.

The last time I was looking to replace a tenant farmer I went to the FSA office and asked who a good, young farmer was. I thought if I got a good young farmer, he might appreciate the acreage more than a big farmer.

Good advice. The stipulations you laid out are all things I’d like to add to my deal. Ultimately I’ve got around 10-12 acres of crops I Rolf like left behind annually (fortunately they’re probably in the lesser productive areas near timber...heaviest browse areas).

 

[Dukslayr]

We do on thirds and this works if you know the farmer well.Mine is actually now my son in law.In Kansas you need to put in your contract that you still maintain the recreational rights and all the farmer gets are ag rights.This keeps a farmer from leasing the ground.FSA will tell you what cash rent is in your area.In my part of Kansas very few do it.

Very few cash rent in your area? I wonder why that is? Cash rent seems to be the most common method here in NW MO.

 

[bwoods11]

I like to do cash rent, and have never had a problem finding renters in Mn or Iowa. I would guess you will have no issue, check with neighbors and don't sell the land short. Corn and bean prices are on the way up right now.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I prefer straight cash rent and I make sure all of my requirements are listed on the contract. On my WI place I have the farmer leave a couple acres standing and I don't allow any fall tillage.

 

[j-bird]

I have 125 acres on one of my farms that will have expiring CRP contracts starting in 2021 and ending in 2023. Some of this land lies very nicely to be tilled and some does not. I am in the early stages of deciding whether to pull it all out, try to reenroll all of it, or re-enroll the poorly lying areas and maybe filter strips the farm the rest. Obviously all of this is assuming there are funds for CRP enrollment in the next couple years. Ultimately around half my CRP would likely make good crop ground; lies well and much of it terraced. The CRP is fairly clean as is and the remaining cleanup (Field edges mostly) will be done before contracts expire.
My questions are the following:

1. If you have someone farm your land do you cash rent or operate shares and why do you prefer the way you do it?
2. How did you go about finding your tenant farmer and what kinds of questions did you ask (other than how much you’ll get paid) ahead of time to make sure he/she would take good care of your property and soils?
3. If you have a crop share agreement what percentage do you get and how do you verify you’re getting your “fair share”?

I know there’s a ton of variability here but I’m curious to hear from those who have gone through this before and what you’ve learned through the process. Thank you for any input/feedback you have on the above questions!

#1 - I do a straight cash rent.....I get paid even if he doesn't make a dime! 1/2 before planting and 1/2 before harvest tot he tune of roughly $200/acre.
#2 - reputation is EVERYTHING in rural communities. Some folks are out to simply get what they can and move on down the road. You want someone that live sin the area and has for a long time. Ask around and ask lots of folks. Also have the soil testing and amendments in the contract. We test every year and it's in the contract that when the contract expires the soil levels will be at or better than at the beginning of the contract and the renter pays for that.
#3 - don't do it. You don't how what the yield is, what the market is doing or even when they sell. Straight rental is the least risk on your part.

 

[Bill]

I’m odd I guess. I let one of my neighbors farm a 12 acre field. Always beans. He knifes in pig $hit every spring before planting because he has a confine also.

I rent for 1/3 of the crop. He shows me all the elevator slips and I get 1/3. The nice thing is years when my plots suck, like this year, my 1/3 will stay in the field. We walked along and picked out a tree over there from about here and called it 1/3.

 

[Dukslayr]

The guy that plants my crops now is also a hog farmer and I’ll be discussing it with him. I’m right in the heart of several big operations and a couple medium operations with great access to my fields so I have No doubt there will be a lot of interest. My farmer now has been knifing in manure and it sure helps. My challenge with him is that he works a full time job for the state, runs a hog operation and crop farms so generally he’s late getting crops in. He’s a great guy though so certainly going to have a conversation with him.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Late planting crops sounds like a good recipe for fall covers. The big dairy’s by us mix their cover seed in with the manure when they knife it in.


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[Jimmy G]

Cash rent here, I'm in East Central Minnesota. Seems like everyone around here cash rents.
Here's my story on finding a farmer. I had a farmer rent my land for 4 years then abruptly quit. He decided to rent larger tracts of land to try and be more efficient instead of a lot of small parcels. He had a lot of 10,20+ acre parcels in the general area. My land is really part of about 80 acres total owned by me and my neighbors. Mine is 20.
We had a strange time trying to find a farmer willing to rent out our parcels(it's about 80 acres of contiguous field, so not bad to farm). Two older farmers we talked to just seemed bored with it. Not that interested. My neighbor suggested Craigslist and I just rolled my eyes. I thought no way in heck would this work. Well, one day he called me up and said within 30 minutes of posting an ad he got a response. Turns out it was a very young farmer still in ag school looking for land to rent. The kid said he checked Craigslist multiple times a day for land. The young guys view was that it is very hard to get land to rent because most farmers will rent a field for sometimes generations, and they'll tell a friend about the land first if they are going to stop renting it. So most land is just rented by word of mouth and if you are young and new to farming nobody knows you.
Well we talked to the young man and worked out details and came to an agreement. We are in year one with him and so far so good.
Also, the other farmers had ABSOLUTELY no interest in leaving any standing crops for wildlife even at a deep discounted rental rate. They couldn't understand why...This young guy had no problem with it.....

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[Dukslayr]

Late planting crops sounds like a good recipe for fall covers. The big dairy’s by us mix their cover seed in with the manure when they knife it in.


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He doesn’t use cover crops on the land he farms now, but certainly would be a good thing. Problem is he doesn’t start application of manure until late November and December if the ground is amenable. If not, it doesn’t happen till the early spring.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Cash rent and I'm in SW TN. I sort of got lucky as when I bought the farm, the tillable ground was already being rented by what I'd call a land steward farmer. This man knew that as a farmer taking care of the soil and water was a large part of his livelihood and so too was maintaining good relationships with landowners. My only stipulation was no more cotton so everything is now soybean, corn, wheat rotation. The old man died but his son picked everything up and he's absolutely a chip off the block.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Duk,
One more thing I thought about that might help you make a decision is what you intend to do with the CRP ground longer term. Your farmer might can help with that if he’s got the right big equipment. Dozer, trackhoe, a little skidder, manure spreader etc. I present all sorts of little jobs to my farmer very often...little salvage timber jobs after a windstorm, dirt work, putting in a new culvert across a canal, spraying, plucking/piling stumps after a small clearcut to be burned and converted to tillable. Its a win win win. The earth, him, and me. During planting and harvest season not so much but in the lull times during any given year...absolutely.