Farm Lease Agreements

Land Rental Contracts for Farmers & Land-Using Food Manufacturers. Access to land is too important to rest on a handshake deal. A crisply drafted farm lease can secure access to acreage or a production site without testing the patience of the average landlord — and it allocates the risks that an oral arrangement leaves dangerously open.

An estimated 40% of U.S. farmers acquire access to land by leasing, according to the 2012 USDA Census of Agriculture. With land values at historic highs, growers and land-using food manufacturers alike rely on leased ground to build and expand their operations rather than tie up capital in a purchase. Whether you are leasing acreage to grow, a parcel for processing or storage, or land adjacent to an existing facility, the lease is the document that protects the investment you build on someone else’s property.

Any food or agricultural business that uses land it does not own benefits from a well-drafted lease: produce and specialty-crop growers, agribusinesses scaling acreage, and food manufacturers leasing sites for production, storage, or staging. A good lease defines the term and renewal, rent and escalation, permitted uses, improvements and who owns them, and what happens on default or sale — the terms that decide whether your access to the land is secure.

We draft and review farm lease and land-rental agreements on a flat-fee basis: you tell us the parcel, the use, and the deal terms, and we return a strong, enforceable lease (or a redline of the one you were handed) that protects your access and contains your risk. Where the work recurs — multiple parcels, multiple seasons — it folds naturally into our subscription counsel.

Leasing land for your food or agricultural operation? Book a consultation for flat-fee farm lease drafting and review, or see our subscription service plans if the work recurs.

Jason Foscolo Founder of The Food Law Firm — fractional general counsel for food & beverage businesses nationwide.