The Amarillo Court of Appeals’ decision issued in Arriola v. Kutscherousky, a case involving a farm lease, offers an interesting discussion of legal issues surrounding co-ownership of land and the alleged breach of a farm lease. Background When their father died, three siblings, Robynn, Jack, and Raven, inherited the family farm.  Each was given an undivided one-third interest in the farmland.  Robynn decided to live on the property, a decision supported by her siblings/co-owners.  Her husband, Joey, met with a prospective tenant of the land in May 2011.  The… Read More →

The USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service recently published its County Cash Rent data for 2016. As we mentioned in this prior blog post, NASS publishes a yearly report showing cash rent values by state.  In even-numbered years, NASS breaks down the statistics further, providing cash rental information by region and then by county for each state in the US.  To view the database with all 2016 regional and county data, click here.  You will then need to scroll down to Texas to locate your specific county. Regionally in Texas,… Read More →

The 2016 NASS results of their Cash Rent surveys have been released. The results are obtained by a survey of farmers conducted by the United States Department of Agricultural National Agricultural Statistics Service. Every year, NASS collects cash rent data by state for irrigated cropland, non-irrigated cropland, and pastureland.  In even numbered years, they break this data down by county.  The county-level reports should be out in September.  For now, we have the national and state-by-state results. Nationwide, cash rental rates have dropped in the last year.  Here… Read More →

Every year, the Texas Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers publishes the Texas Rural Land Value Trends Report.  This publication, which comes out each April, looks at land prices across Texas, broken down into 7 regions and then into several sub-regions.  It reports average rates for land sales as well as land rentals.  The publication also looks at how these rates have changed since the prior year, factors driving land prices, such as commodity prices and water availability, and reports on the most commonly planted… Read More →

A recent decision by the Iowa Court of Appeals offers some important lessons when thinking about farm estate planning and farm leases.  The court’s opinion in Hope K. Farms, LLC v. Gumm, No. 14-1371 (Iowa Ct. App. June 29, 2016), may be found here. Background This case involves Iowa farmland that was owned by Mr. Gumm’s mother.  During her life, Mr. Gumm had a lease agreement with her that allowed him to farm the land.  Upon her death, ownership of the land passed to the Gumm Family Trust.  The… Read More →

In the last few months, I have heard from several Texas landowners who have been contacted by solar companies seeking to lease agricultural land for solar projects.  There is surprisingly little information available for landowners considering the pros and cons of entering into a solar lease agreement.  This article outlines some of the key considerations for landowners considering and/or negotiating a solar lease. As always, I highly recommend that landowners consult an experienced attorney to review any lease agreement before it is signed.  As Stamford, Texas attorney James… Read More →

Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu Contact: Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, 806-677-5668, tiffany.dowelllashmet@ag.tamu.edu AMARILLO – Three Rancher Leasing Workshops covering grazing, hunting and livestock leases will be held in June in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Fort Worth and Amarillo. The free workshops will be hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and funded by the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center, said Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, AgriLife Extension agricultural law specialist in Amarillo. “Although leasing of land for grazing and hunting, as well as leasing of livestock, is prevalent across Texas, Oklahoma and… Read More →