Air January 8 2003

Thank you Gary, and good morning everyone. We do have some meetings coming up in the near future. I’ll be hitting one or two every week for the next couple of months. State budget problems are hitting Extension and the specialists are not going to be able to put on as many meetings as in past years so you may have to drive a little further than in the past to make some of these. Always check with me first as I will often be driving to these and we might as well car pool! A week from today, January 15th, is the annual 4-State Beef Conference in Clay Center. The registration starts at 9 AM, the program starts at 10 a.m. and will be done by mid afternoon. Registration will cost $25 which includes the meal and a chance to hear 4 great speakers from instate and out of state. You do need to pre-register by Friday so give a call to the Extension Office, 238-4161.

It seems like January and February are just filled with all sorts of important dates. One of them is a few weeks off yet, but we need to pay attention NOW. Kansas law is very specific about oral agricultural leases and in fact the laws were even clarified this past year. Any oral lease for crop land or pasture that is to be terminated must be done in writing at least 30 days prior to March 1st. The lease must also set the termination date as March 1st EXCEPT on those acres planted to a fall seeded grain crop, i.e. winter wheat or winter barley. For these acres, the lease terminates the day after the last day of harvest OR August 1st, whichever comes first. There are a lot of very important factors there, but basically it comes down to due it in writing, usually a certified letter or something that proves the tenent received it, it must be done at least 30 days prior to March 1st and March 1st ends the lease except for planted wheat ground. A couple of other things that we’ve run into lately. Death of a landowner OR sale of the land does not terminate an oral lease. The new owners are still obliged to follow the terms of the lease and everything I just mentioned still holds. Now, if you have a written lease, my personal favorite, the landowner and tenant can set any start and termination date that they want and the Kansas statute has no effect, because it is only on oral leases. Call me if you have any questions on the Kansas Farm Lease Law.

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2003.

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