Useful Advice for Farmers who Rent Land

I recently read an interesting article in the AgWeek publication about new ways to improve the relationship between farmers who rent land and the landowners they rent from.

The author noted that winter is typically the time of year when farmers and landowners are negotiating rental agreements, and highlighted a couple ideas on how to forge a stronger partnership. Consider these solutions from Willie Huot, a North Dakota extension educator "who has studied land rent negotiations and advises farmers on how to approach them":

• Consider creating a newsletter to update landlords on what’s happening on the farm and in agriculture. - “It’s an educational effort and a communications tool,” Huot says.
• Resumes are another potential tool. Producers can list their agricultural accomplishments and abilities, much the way a job seeker does.

These could be great ways to keep in contact with landowners by giving them more insight into the type of farming operation being run and the plans for the future.

If you are looking for help selling your farmland or in navigating the ever-changing rental market, please give me a call at 320-894-7528.

Have a great day!

Noah Hultgren

The FarmlandMan

noah@farmlandman.com

Sugar beet summary

I was just reading through the summary of the 2010 review from the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative in the January 2011 edition of "The SugarBeet Grower Magazine."


SMBSC's Todd Geselius reported that SMBSC's growers ended the 2010 crop year by delivering 3,094,801 tons from 114,893 harvested acres, resulting in an average yield of 26.94 tons per acre. "This is the second largest crop we have grown at Southern Minnesota, surpassed only by the 2009 crop," noted Geselius. "The sugar content ended the season at 16.23%." Overall, it was considered a great crop year.


I compared that to the results from some of the other sugar companies that reported in, and SMBSC seemed to be in line. For example, American Crystal Sugar Company reported 26.3 tons per acre (which was the highest average yield in their history) and just over 18% sugar content. The Michigan Sugar Company averaged 26.07 tons per acre (which was also second highest in their history) and 18.17% for grower sugar. Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative harvested 3,108,000 tons of sugarbeets with an average of 27.15 tons per acre, with average sugar content of 16.8%.


Successful harvests are likely to continue to push land values and rents higher in the future. To learn more about your options for seeling or renting your land, please contact me at 320-894-7528 or noah@farmlandman.com. I'd love to help you make the most of this market!


Take care,
Noah Hultgren
The FarmlandMan
www.farmlandman.com

15 reasons why farmers shouldn't speak up

Here is a link that was forwarded to me from a colleague. It's a highly sarcastic (tongue-in-cheek) list of why farmers SHOULD NOT stand up and speak out for agriculture.

After all, non-farmers are already very knowledgeable about what farmers do, right?

http://www.causematters.com/advocacy/why-farmers-should-not-speak-up/

Michele's list has hit a nerve for some of us, but also allows us to laugh about the perceptions of our industry. I hope you enjoy the blog!

Have a great week!

Noah
The FarmlandMan.com
320-894-7528