By Pat Melgares, K-State Research and Extension news service

Manhattan, KS– Kansas State University will host a four-part series on land leasing strategies at 34 locations in Kansas beginning Jan. 18.

The series is titled, The Power of Negotiation and Communication: Land Leasing Strategies for Midwestern Agriculture Women, though K-State Research and Extension farm economist Robin Reid says the sessions are open to all participants.

“In Kansas, agricultural land covers more than 49 million acres,” Reid said. “Of that land, 55% is farmed or grazed with a lease agreement. Many farms and ranches rely on leased ground to have an adequate amount of land to maintain a viable farming operation.”

Reid said the program – held each week through Feb. 8 on Wednesday evenings – will teach principles of managing land leases as a tenant and landlord. “The goal is for participants to acquire skills they can apply directly their own agricultural lease situation,” she said.

Topics that will be covered include:

• An overview of the agricultural economy, and how it affects land values and lease rates.
• Advantages and disadvantages of various types of leases.
• Kansas lease law and fence law.
• Why a lease agreement should be in writing and what it should include.
• Best practices of negotiating and communicating about a lease.
• Conservation programs and practices.

Reid said women are encouraged to attend because they have routinely become lease managers due to family circumstances.

“Women often become landowners through inheritance of a family estate or because they outlive their spouse,” she said. “Suddenly becoming a landowner and working with a farm tenant can be particularly challenging if you do not have knowledge of current farming practices, lease laws and going market rates.”

Reid said the program also will be helpful to farmers and ranchers who sometimes find themselves working with multiple landowners that, she notes, “are becoming more geographically and generationally removed from agriculture.”

More information about the series is available online at www.agmanager.info/events (look for the link to The Power of Negotiation and Communication.) An online option is available for those not able to make it to one of the 34 sites in Kansas. The program will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Central time) on four consecutive Wednesdays.

Information also is available at local extension offices in Kansas.

The program is made possible by a grant from the North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.