{"id":774,"date":"2013-11-17T15:00:45","date_gmt":"2013-11-17T21:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/?p=774"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:35:34","slug":"beyond-a-handshake-the-importance-of-written-leases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2013\/11\/17\/beyond-a-handshake-the-importance-of-written-leases\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond a Handshake:  The Importance of Written Leases"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\">**This article is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.**<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I wrote an article for the November issue of the Progressive Cattleman Magazine discussing the importance of having leases in writing.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2013\/10\/calf-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-758 aligncenter\" alt=\"calf 2\" src=\"http:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2013\/10\/calf-2-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2013\/10\/calf-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2013\/10\/calf-2.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Although ranchers are notorious for historically making verbal agreements based upon a person&#8217;s word and handshake, it is important that lease agreements be reduced to writing to protect both parties.\u00a0 The article outlines some of the most important terms and considerations to think about when drafting grazing leases and bull leases, including the length of the lease, rental payments, description of the lease subject, stocking rates and disaster contingencies, transferability, liability and indemnification, maintenance of fixed assets, care of livestock, and several various legal considerations.\u00a0 To read the full article, <a href=\"http:\/\/progressivecattle.com\/focus-topics\/management-a-finance\/5854-beyond-a-handshake-the-importance-of-written-leases\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To obtain a subscription to Progressive Cattleman (free to cattle producers and qualified industry professionals), <a href=\"http:\/\/progressivecattle.com\/home\/subscribe\/3367\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>**This article is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.** I wrote an article for the November issue of the Progressive Cattleman Magazine discussing the importance of having leases in writing. Although ranchers are notorious for historically making verbal agreements based upon a person&#8217;s word and handshake, it is important that lease agreements be reduced to writing to protect both parties.\u00a0 The article outlines some of the most important terms and considerations to think about when drafting grazing leases and bull leases, including the length of&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2013\/11\/17\/beyond-a-handshake-the-importance-of-written-leases\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2443,"featured_media":758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Beyond a Handshake: The Importance of Written Leases - Texas Agriculture Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2013\/11\/17\/beyond-a-handshake-the-importance-of-written-leases\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beyond a Handshake: The Importance of Written Leases - Texas Agriculture Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"**This article is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.** I wrote an article for the November issue of the Progressive Cattleman Magazine discussing the importance of having leases in writing. Although ranchers are notorious for historically making verbal agreements based upon a person&#8217;s word and handshake, it is important that lease agreements be reduced to writing to protect both parties.\u00a0 The article outlines some of the most important terms and considerations to think about when drafting grazing leases and bull leases, including the length of... 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