According to the USDA, the average age of U.S. farm producers in 2022 is 58.1 years, and the number of producers aged 65 and older showed a 12% increase, which is consistent with the continued trend of an aging farm population. Along with this comes the unfortunate reality of people inheriting land that has been in their family for generations, or people buying land that had been sold off of generational farms. This is very true for Graves County. Over the last several months, there has been a steady increase in questions about land rental agreements. Many of these clients are older themselves and have inherited property from their parents who have had decades-long rental agreements sealed with a handshake and no documentation. They have no idea if what they are getting is a fair price much less what sort of criteria should be considered when deciding what a fair price would be. On the flip side, there has also been an increase in beginning farmers who, due to the extremely high land prices, have to rely greatly on renting land to put out their crops and want to make sure the rental fees they are paying are also fair and not cutting too much into their bottom line. 

With this influx of people with land rental agreement questions, it became clear that a program outlining the different options, the pros and cons of each, and important criteria to consider when discussing these with potential partners would be greatly helpful to clients in our area.  The Graves County, Marshall County, and McCracken County ANR Agents worked together with Purchase Area Farm Analysis to create a program that would help farmers and landowners work through these considerations and ask any questions that they may have. Members of the audience represented both of these groups and the program was geared to create talking points for each and teach them what sort of data is required to come up with dollar amounts that are fair to each, rather than give them a price to charge. 

At the end of the program, 100% of participants felt that the information provided to them would help them increase profits, reduce expenses, and/or reduce risk when taking on land rental agreements. Additionally, 100% of the participants plan to apply the knowledge they gained from the program to their current practices. The program was successful enough that it is planned to be repeated in other counties at future dates.