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NC Kansas | I got a call from a landlord on Wednesday. The neighbor called him out of the blue and offered a ridiculously high price to buy a farm from him, ridiculous defined as 50% more than it's worth and far more than he gave a few years ago. I cash rent the place from him, and rent has been paid through bean harvest '09. Half of the place is in wheat, half is fallowed out of wheat and has been worked. It is a cultivator trip away from going to beans.
He agreed to sell the place. I absolutely don't blame him for that. However, the new owner wants to take posession immediately, as in this week. They want me to relinquish the place five weeks away from planting beans. To make me whole on this, they want to give back half of the rent and pay me for working the ground. The wheat is mine regardless of what else happens.
This place was a wreck when I got it. It was in no-till, but the ground was so rough that I had to start working it. There was every weed known to man growing there, to the point that RR crops were the only available option at first. This would have been the first year I stood a chance of making a profit.
I'm not going for the half rent and tillage payment scheme. The law says that I should get the ground through bean harvest. The question is, if there is an offer to buy me out of the lease, what should I ask for? The rent and $100/a.? Plant the beans and sell them the growing crop? Figure the profit I would have made on the beans plus the government payment? Tell them where to stick the offer and grow a crop?
Aside from the ego bruise, I don't regret losing the place. It's rough and has lots and lots of problems. The last guy who rented it mined the soil pretty thoroughly. It's also far enough from home that it takes time away from my better ground.
Any suggestions?
Thanks a million! | |
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Farm lease buy-out
