AIR DECEMBER 9, 1998

Thank you Mark and good morning everyone. A little bit of the white stuff over the weekend should serve as a good wake up call for the season to come. Now, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that it could be a warm and mild winter.... but we’ve had enough of those lately that I think we need to be prepared for at least a cold if not a cold and wet winter. 90 outlook right now is rated as climatological which means that there is no reason to expect anything other than long term average conditions. Interestingly the 90 day outlook to the north is normal temps and above normal precipitation and to the south they are saying above normal temp and below normal precipitation. I guess by the middle of March, we’ll know!

Regardless of whether you are a tenant or a landlord, December is a good time to sit down together and review the rental agreements. Some folks wait until January but then if something happens and an oral lease needs to be terminated you can wind up awfully close to that 30 days prior to March 1st deadline that is required to give notice to terminate on an oral lease. Review the terms of the lease. If the lease is oral, and excuse me while I shudder, then make sure that both parties have talked over any questions that they may have. Nothing bugs me more than to hear a tenant or a landlord sit around and mutter about this or that and yet they’ll never bring it up to the other, it’ll just sit there and be a burr under the saddle and what could have been a simple thing leads to just another straw on the camels back. Even if you don’t have a formal written lease at least write down a few points to discuss and make sure that everyone is clear on, and I encourage spouses to be included in this discussion. Twice the number of ears is always a good idea. If you are interested in changing the terms or the form of the lease then we have a lot of information at the Extension Office including standardized lease forms, AND I will even convert those into standard word processor files if you’d rather have that on the computer than to fill in those blanks long hand. The bottom line here is communication. If you’ve had an oral lease and it’s working then great. If you want a written lease I can help. Just make sure, though, that the lease is equitable to both parties.

This is Chuck Otte, County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook '98

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