Articles
Finding a Wisconsin Farm Lawyer
If you are unsure about hiring a lawyer for your Wisconsin farm, you’re not alone. Across the United States, farmers express uncertainty about working with attorneys. This article offers tips to find, interview, and select the right attorney for your farm’s legal needs.
Terminating a farmland lease or tenancy
It is important to consider how and when a farmland lease may end. State law provides default rules for termination in the event that a landlord and tenant fail to discuss and document this topic.
Negotiating the Farmland Lease
Like any contract, a lease is a package deal. Landlords and tenants should carefully consider all of the terms offered by the other party before making a decision.
Is my Wisconsin farm lease enforceable?
Under Wisconsin law, a “lease” means an agreement, whether oral or written, for transfer of possession of real property, or both real and personal property, for a definite period of time. These leases are also a type of contract, so principles of contract law apply too.
Wisconsin Farming: Insights from the 2022 Census of Agriculture
Every five years the USDA undertakes a detailed inventory of farming operations across the country. The most recent 2022 Census of Agriculture provides a snapshot of the nation’s farming economy, including demographics, production practices, land use, and economic trends.
Wisconsin Agricultural Land Prices 2023
This report provides a statewide overview of agricultural land values across Wisconsin based on a statistical analysis of actual sales and now includes the weighted average price of agricultural land sold in Wisconsin.
Cash Farmland Lease in HMoob/Hmong
In this instructional video, Gaonou Thao, an Extension Specialist specializing in HMoob/Hmong Farmer Outreach, delivers comprehensive guidance on completing a land lease application in HMoob. This video is specifically tailored to cater to the needs of farmers who may not be proficient in English.
Negotiating Agriculture Leases
What makes for a fair, robust and resilient ag or farm lease agreement? This video is part of a series that will include an example dialog between land/farm owner and renter as they negotiate the specific details of a lease agreement, highlighting important resources, tools and considerations to inform a resilient and robust agreement that serves both parties as well as discussing specific leasing topics
Resources to help landowners explore solar leases on agricultural land
Development of solar arrays across Wisconsin for electric generation is expanding as interest grows in solar as a renewable energy resource. Solar developers prefer level sites free of trees, buildings, and other obstructions to the sun, and land located near roads and needed power transmission facilities, including three-phase transmission hubs and power substations.
Estimating Custom Rate for 2023 Wisconsin Farm Operations
As the 2023 crop season get started, landowners and custom service providers are negotiating custom rates, but the newest Custom Rate Guide for Wisconsin is from 2020[1]. Prices have increased a lot over the past three years.
Wisconsin Agricultural Land Prices 2022
This report provides a statewide overview of agricultural land values across Wisconsin based on a statistical analysis of actual sales and now includes the weighted average price of agricultural land sold in Wisconsin.
Demystifying the future farmer and planning ahead for a successful farmland transition
Productive farmland is an increasingly rare and valuable resource. Thinking ahead and having a plan in place for the legacy of the land is one of the most important decisions to make as a landowner. This article aims to “demystify” the new generation of farmers so that current landowners have a better understanding of who they are and ways we can make land more accessible to them for the benefit of everyone.
Agricultural conservation easements 101: Permanently protect your farmland and legacy
Protecting Farmland for the Future. Farmers invest a lot of time, money, and energy into their land and, when it comes time for retirement, they often worry that the land may someday be covered in asphalt. An agricultural conservation easement (ACE) can provide a retiring farmer with the assurance that the land will forever be available for agricultural use. An ACE is a permanent deed restriction that allows future farmers to continue farming the land, but typically prevents subdivision and non-farm agricultural development. An ACE may not be right for everyone, but it can be a helpful tool to consider when planning for the future of your farmland.
Buy-Protect-Sell: Bridging gaps to incoming farmers
Buy-Protect-Sell (BPS) is a land transition model that can help farmers without heirs transfer property to a new generation of producers. In this model, a farmer sells their land to a land trust, who then protects the property with an agricultural conservation easement. In this article, you will learn what Buy-Protect-Sell is through the story of a retiring landowner and a land-seeking family, how it may benefit your farmland legacy, and if your farm could be the right fit.
Navigating Lease Agreements for Small Acreage, High Value Crops
Jump to video resource The hardest part about lease negotiations is starting one. There may be lots of questions that both the landowner and farmer have as they navigate through the conversation. According to the Farm Commons article called “A checklist of questions to address in your farmland lease” the best lease between farmer and […]
AgriVision Episode 25 – Golden opportunity? Part 2
Host Katie Wantoch and Ryan Sterry, Professor and Agriculture Agent with Extension in St. Croix County, discuss considerations for renting land from a family member and details that should be included with a written lease agreement.
