From the guide · Farmland Rent Negotiation Guide
Put It in Writing: What a Farm Lease Should Cover
One of the most practical farm lease negotiation tips is to put it in writing. The 12 points a written farmland lease should cover, plus state notice deadlines from Iowa to Missouri.
Tip three from the guide: put everything in writing. Oral leases are hard to prove and harder to end cleanly. A written lease does not signal distrust — it protects the relationship from bad memories, including your own.
The 12-point check
- Names of both parties, and any entity (trust, LLC, estate)
- The land itself — acres and legal description
- Start and end dates of the term
- Rent amount, and how it is figured (cash, share, or flex formula)
- Payment dates and where payment goes
- How and when either side can end or change the lease
- Notice deadlines, matching your state's rules
- Who pays for inputs, repairs and improvements
- Maintenance duties — fences, waterways, buildings
- Insurance responsibilities
- What happens if the land is sold or ownership changes
- Signatures and the date signed
Know your state's notice rules
Deadlines differ: Iowa, Ohio and South Dakota use September 1; Illinois requires four months' written notice; Wisconsin 90 days; Indiana three months; Missouri 60 days. And for multi-year leases or any deal that feels tangled, have counsel review it before signing — a short review now is cheaper than a dispute later.
Why paper outlasts memory
People forget, move away, and pass on. A handshake deal made with a father may one day need explaining to a daughter who was never in the room. A written lease answers her questions the same way it answered his, and it keeps a good relationship from depending on anyone's memory of a conversation held years ago. Writing it down is not a lack of trust — it is how trust survives a change of people.
Then keep the paperwork alive: store the signed original somewhere safe, give the other side a copy, and file every later change the same way — signed, dated, and attached to the original. A lease changed by handshake in year two is a handshake lease again, with all the same problems you wrote it down to avoid.
Key takeaways
- A written lease protects both sides — get the 12 basics on paper.
- Match the lease's notice terms to your state's deadlines.
- Have counsel review multi-year or complicated leases before signing.
Want the full guide?
This article is a short read drawn from Farmland Rent Negotiation Guide. The free guide goes deeper, with the full checklists, worked examples and templates.
Read the full free guide →Source: adapted from Farmland Rent Negotiation Guide (Oaken, free ebook). Educational content only — not legal or tax advice.
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Questions, answered.
Where does “Put It in Writing: What a Farm Lease Should Cover” come from?
This article is a short, plain-language read drawn from Farmland Rent Negotiation Guide, a free guide from Oaken. The full guide goes deeper, with the complete checklists, worked examples and templates. It is linked on this page.
Is this article legal or tax advice?
No. This article is educational and explains the records and steps behind the topic in plain language. For decisions about a specific lease, tax filing or program enrollment, work with your own attorney, CPA or local FSA office.
What should I read next?
Start with the other articles from Farmland Rent Negotiation Guide below, then download the free guide for the full checklists. For the wider library — negotiation, compliance and reporting, efficiency, and transition planning — see the Oaken articles page.
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