2016

PIERCE COUNTY FARMLAND

CASH RENT STUDY

Greg Andrews 1

Explanation Cash Rent Study

Pierce County Farmers will spend nearly $10.5 million in 2016 on 69,000 acres of rented cropland (2016 estimate derived from most recent census). As a percentage of all county cropland, 38 percent is rented. The Pierce County UW-Extension Office annually receives over 300 inquiries about cropland rental rates. This study is intended to provide information for landlords and tenants who negotiate leases.

In January 2016, 566 landlords and tenants were randomly selected and sent a mail questionnaire. This sample consisted of 265 parcels and represented 16 of the 17 Pierce County Towns. The overall response rate to the survey was 45 percent. Among the respondents, 42% were tenants, 38% were landlords and 20% identified both roles.

The rental rate study should be used as a guide rather than an absolute. Rental rates are reflective of competition for the land, rental to family members, commodity prices, input costs, land ownership costs, productivity of the soil types, existing soil fertility, field size, and slope of the land. Since grain yield is the leading variable in farmland rental rates, a ratio of rent price paid per bushel of corn yield is provided on the opposite page.

The 2015 Pierce County Farmland Cash Rent Survey found a range in rental rates of $30 to $430 per acre. The median farmland rental value for Pierce County was $161 per acre, up 6% from 2015. Of the towns with sufficient reports, Trenton posted the highest median rental rate in Pierce County ($206 per acre). River Falls had the lowest median rental rate in Pierce County ($102 per acre).

Educational Resources and Lease Forms for Leasing Farmland

In many states you must have a written lease. A written lease offers opportunity for discussion between landlords and tenants, creates a way to iron out details in the lease, provides a way for dealing with the unexpected and assures conservation expectations are contained in the lease.

The North Central Farm Management Extension Committee released their new leasing educational materials and lease forms in December 2012. These resources are very useful when negotiating leasing of farmland and other farm assets. The Ag Lease 101 website contains all of these newly developed forms and resources. The lease forms and resources can be obtained from the Pierce County UW-Extension Agriculture website at: http://pierce.uwex.edu/agriculture/

I wish to acknowledge the dedicated assistance of Sandy Radkey, Pierce County UW-Extension Support Staffer

1 Greg Andrews, Professor, UW-Extension, Pierce County Agriculture Agent

Pierce County Land Rent Summary January 2016
Township	Number of Parcels Reported	Median Cash Rent ($/Acre)	Range of Cash Rentals Reported ($/Acre)	Average Corn Yield in Bushels Per Acre (2014)	Ratio Price Paid per Bushel of Corn Yield
Clifton	17	145.07	53-250	165.41	.88
Diamond Bluff	2	200	100-300	157.50	1.26
El Paso	25	128.88	70-205	165.65	.78
Ellsworth	23	155.32	75-275	163.87	.95
Gilman	27	126.26	50-230	138.89	.91
Hartland	12	165.51	100-250	157.25	1.05
Isabelle	0	-	-	-	-
Maiden Rock	6	139.72	110-180	163.32	.85
Martell	20	133.01	30-300	161.20	.82
Oak Grove	20	169.55	65-430	167.85	1.01
River Falls	23	101.85	35-150	160.91	.64
Rock Elm	20	172.18	90-300	164.30	1.04
Salem	12	145.04	75-250	168.08	.86
Spring Lake	16	117.25	85-200	148.50	.78
Trenton	14	206.44	50-275	194.50	1.06
Trimbelle	10	162.13	70-200	172.60	.93
Union	19	169.36	85-250	174.21	.97
County Totals/Avg.	266	152.35	$30-430	164.00	.92

Cash Rent Survey of Cropland by Corn Yield Potential
Corn Yield Bushels/Acre	Range in Rental Rate $/Acre	Average Cash Rent $/Acre
>200 bu.	75-350	221.25
185-199	85-250	164.77
170-184	50-300	132.88
155-169	35-430	145.68
140-154	40-220	119.61
125-139	75-135	105.24
110-124	100-100	100.
<109bu	65-90	77.88

Contact:	UW-Extension, 412 West Kinne Street, P O Box 69, Ellsworth WI 54011

715-273-6781 or email at amy.vandebrake@ces.uwex.edu

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