Air January 5, 2005

Thank you Jerry, and good morning everyone. And a Happy New Year to everyone, present weather excepted! Just a reminder of the 4 State Beef Conference that will be in Abilene's Sterl Hall on January 12. There's still time to get your pre-registration in - give me a call at the Extension office.

January is a critical month in agriculture for several reasons. The one we are going to talk about this morning is farm leases. The state of Kansas has some very specific rules regarding agricultural leases including, especially oral leases. The state recognizes oral leases as legal and binding. An oral lease continues year after year until such time as it is properly terminated. Proper termination is outlined in the statutes to be, in writing, given at least 30 days prior to March 1st and setting the termination date as March 1st with the exception of those acres planted to fall planted crops such as wheat. In those cases, the lease terminates the day after the last day of harvest or August 1, whichever comes first. These rules govern all oral leases, they cover written leases UNLESS a different ending date is given and as of a couple years ago, these rules also pertain to pasture leases. If you leased a pasture last year and notice isn't given to you before January 30th, then you have the pasture again this year at the same price and terms as was previously negotiated. Which brings up a good point. If you are the landlord and want to change the terms of an oral lease, I suggest you get busy with it right now so if you and the renter can't come to terms, you have time to terminate the lease in proper order. Once you go past January 30th, you can suggest new terms to the tenant, but they don't have to accept them and you don't have any choice but to continue on with the lease as the terms have been. One question that comes up every year pertains to sale of the property. A lease, even an oral lease, goes with the property. If a piece of land sells, the new owners are bound to the terms of the lease as negotiated with the previous owner. This is a real quick overview of a fairly complicated set of statutes. If you would like more information about ag leases, give us a call at the extension office and talk with me or ask for our bulletin on Kansas Farm Lease Law.

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2005.

Return to Radio Home Page

Return to Ag Home Page