I think so. We say he hobby farms, because he isn't doing it really to survive, the rent takes care of that. He still runs around 26 acres, only 1 field is really worth renting. The other that after he is done with it, either goes back to pasture or hay, it really shouldn't be cropped. He took it claiming it needed rejuvenated, but that has been over 10 years ago... I actually own that land now, as he let me legally have it to mortgage against to put the house here. I also made the agreement that nothing changed with the farming and such as a result. It was a way to keep the peace and still get what I needed. Most of it is steep enough that I don't want it to continue to be farmed after he stops. There are some other areas that he farms that I will let the renters have, excluding certain parts that are too steep. That is another field that was pasture for as long as I could remember, but he took over for row crops when he retired. Part of it is way too steep, but yet he farms it.

 

How many acres does he have?

 

Total of about 240. with the land prices as they are, rent of course has gone up. He gets more from rent than I used to make in a year...

 

My Mother in law has about 500 that she cash-rents out. I know she makes a good living off of that deal.

 

I have had to be the mediator between my dad and the renters. My dad keeps wanting to raise the rent every time, more than the renters can accept, so I have come up with creative ways to make both sides happy. Our renters have done real well on taking care of the land, so I do what I can to keep them happy as well. They have invested into our property more than I ever would expect from someone who doesn't actually own it, so I try to take care of them as well.

 

Sounds like you have a good handle on it, as long as you can keep your dad going along with it. That's got to be tough sometimes.

 

We found examples of contracts that had bonus payments in years of good yields, so I used that as a model. I also incorporated a part that also gives the renters a break for years like last year, and possibly again this year. I set caps both directions and figured out a formula to decide what the amount should be. That way they knew the most they would be required to pay, and we knew a minimum that would be paid.

The renters were already paying bonuses on their own without the contract, so they were already doing some things to keep him happy as well. This just guaranteed them a break when they needed it.

 

I'm not sure how she has hers set up. My FIL had it all set up before he passed away.

 

I have tried the angle of reminding him how it was when he was the renter, not sure it has had a lot of effect. Of course, land prices weren't so crazy most of that time either. We got him to agree to 3 year time frames as well, because the renters need to have some kind of stability, and he kept raising it every time they met. They got my mom involved first, them she brought me in as well to help. The renters have started to figure out the game, and appreciate our help. Pretty much now if they need something, they talk to me first. Too many times they have talked to my dad only and he forgets about it, so now they make sure the rest of us know about it.

 

Good day Roger, -25*F right now, stay warm gang.....

 

2.3 according to my thermometer here...

 

Morning Roger, Gerry. It's a blistering 3 here this morning.

 

Good morning , -25*F again, throw another log on the fire & have a good day ....

 

Flu bug apparently caught up with me... out for the day.

 

Thats no good