2023 Spring Farm Outlook

Page 33 2023 Logan County Spring Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 2023 All lease agreements for farmland should be in writing and clearly understood. The temptation for both sides to agree with a promise, a handshake, and a smile is not wise. Get the lease in writing to help reduce the risk of misunderstandings. Owners do not always know what information they need. The landowner should ask for either hard copies, digital copies, or both. If the landowner does not want the records, the farmer should go ahead and keep the records for them and have them available if asked for later. Sometimes it’s necessary to have records going back in history, so the farmer is doing a good thing in keeping these for the owner. The owner may not know what the record means, so farmers should be prepared to explain them. Below you will find helpful communication lists for both the farmer and the landowner. Records and Communications for Farmers to Provide to Landowners: 1. Soil Tests Results 2. Copies of Liability Insurance Policies and naming Landowner as Co-Insured 3. Yield History for at least 10 years and longer 4. Production Records including planting dates, crops planted, fertilizer/lime applied, seeds used/planting rate, tillage practices, yield maps, herbicide applications, and similar data 5. Crop Plans prior to planting 6. Grain Elevator Deliver Sheets for verifying production. 7. Grain Sales Records (Crop-Share Leases where farmer actively sales owner grain) 8. Crop Insurance Records verifying yields. 9. Tile Improvement Records and GPS Waypoints of improvements and maps 10. Records from USDA (Farm Service Agency (FSA) and NRCS • Form 578 (The purpose of the form is to collect acreage data to determine program eligibility. • Form 156EZ • CRP and other Environmental Program forms and communications • Commodities and Disaster Program Forms