Value of grazing and farming?

[MaryB]

Agreement may be letting them use it to keep the weeds down!

[JimB..]

Also, check the laws as far as oral contracts go. Some states may have a limit on how long an oral contract can go on agricultural land. Might be only a year at the most.

Oral contracts for real property are generally unenforceable, but as said above, be friendly because these are your potential buyers.

Also keep adverse possession in mind. If they openly used the land for a long time and your father didn’t either explicitly allow it or take steps to prevent it they could claim the land. Rarely won, and with his passing it’d be hard to prove, so highly unlikely, just something to know a little about.

[Rapier]

Every person in the neighborhood knows your dad passed, they know who owns the cows and who is farming the land and why. All you need do is go by and introduce yourself, let them tell you what you want to know, without you ever asking.

Like hello; I am George's son, I just came by to introduce myself. Then keep your mouth shut except for plesantries. Everyone is related, if you do not remember anything else.

In the country you never tell folks what you plan or intend to do, if asked, answer is I have not decided yet, is the best answer.

[Shawlerbrook]

Great advice about just meeting the neighbors and introducing yourself. Always start out as a friend as most people are not looking for trouble. If your dad had a lawyer, I would check with him/her to see if they were aware of the agreement. Make introductions, get to know everyone and what they are doing and talk money later. Like Kenny Rogers said...there will be time enough for counting when the dealings done. Assume the best and be prepared for the worst.

[Idaho45guy]

I found out that the cows belong to the brother of the late Larry Nirk, who was a friend of my dad's and the owner of Nirk Archery. Larry died years ago and his wife sold my dad the 10 acres and the defunct archery factory.

But, the land is listed as being owned by Ronald J. Nirk, Larry's brother. The problem is that he died back in 2014. So it must be a son or some other heir that owns the land and cows. There is a large farm about a mile from my dad's place that is in the Nirk name, so I'll stop by there and say hi and get a feel for the situation. Like I said, I have no problem with the cows keeping the weeds down, but one of my options is to rent the place out to someone with horses, and might not want to let the cows eat all the grass.

There is a decent barn on site, and a pad for a mobile home, along with water, sewer and power hookups. My step-dad thinks I could rent out the pad, barn, and pasture for $800 a month. Just a trailer pad in town runs $500 a month, and one with a barn, pasture, garage, and shooting range would be a great set-up.

[challenger_i]

In this part of Texas, cultivated land goes for $40 per acre leased, or on the quarters if rented. Rangeland goes for $15 per acre IF One can find it available. A bit more, if One gets the hunting rights.

Around here(south east Michigan), that would literally be giving the farm away. $100/acre for junk land, highest I've heard recently was one guy who was offering $250/acre. If it's any kind of acreage, it should certainly pay the taxes.

Share cropping it, on 1/3's, 2/3 to the farmer, 1/3 to the land owner will yield $300-400 an acre on average yields.

Shares cropping is getting less common, and you need a farmer you can trust.

When I was sharecropping, I let the grain elevator do the division. I delivered all grain from the farm to the elevator with instructions on the division, with the elevator cutting the check to the land owner.

There were guys that would guesstimate bushels out of the field. I suspect their division had a lot in kin to the butcher's thumb.

[jsizemore]

If your dad didn't farm the land, then he may have other folks doing the farming to maintain the farm status of his land. Big reduction in taxes. He might have only charged enough to cover taxes or a modest income comparable to bank savings interest. His accountant should be able to help with that. I'm not sure about your area, but most ag extension offices can tell you the ins and outs of your dad's farm and who has ag insurance for any crops being grown. Extension office is usually in the county seat. He may have had Fed money to maintain water run off and erosion control. Extension office can let you know about that too. It's a solid investment to have land that pays for itself or shows a little return but appreciates in value annually. It ain't given to the ups and downs of the stock market.

[Finster101]

I have little experience with stock, but I think the horses will be a lot harder on the grass than cows. Just based on what I see with my neighbors.

[john.k]

Horses can be risky from type of owner too......often horse owners are low income ,young people .......problems come when a horse needs vet care ..........friend of mine has had all kinds of probs with horsey folks .......including a fine from SPCA for neglect ,and one oddie .....a horse was killed by lightning.....horse owner demanded compensation......and in any case the carcasse had to be buried ,which is technically illegal in the town ,and cost $500 to hire a backhoe.

[Rich/WIS]

I rent the cropland on acreage I own in WI, not sure the going rate but set mine at $50 an acre. Makes a bit of money as well as maintains the ag use designation for tax purposes. Added benefit is land is in corn, sometimes some soybeans and alfalfa, so don't need to worry about food plots for the deer and turkeys.

[KCcactus]

Lease rates vary depending on the use. A friend's family has 120 ac in Hamilton Co, TX with lots of deer. They get $6,000/yr for a 4 gun hunting lease. Leasing license is $600, so that leaves more than enough to pay taxes. Last I heard, they were leasing part for hay for the ag exemption.

We have the wildlife management exemption on our 120 ac. It gives you the same tax exemption as ag. It's a little over a 90% reduction. Without the exemption, the taxes would be more per month than our mortgage payments were.

[perotter]

I have little experience with stock, but I think the horses will be a lot harder on the grass than cows. Just based on what I see with my neighbors.

Yes, they are very hard on the grass and land. They are also many times harder on the fences. The fences are ruined in a few years, unless they are rebuilt.

[perotter]

I rent the cropland on acreage I own in WI, not sure the going rate but set mine at $50 an acre. Makes a bit of money as well as maintains the ag use designation for tax purposes. Added benefit is land is in corn, sometimes some soybeans and alfalfa, so don't need to worry about food plots for the deer and turkeys.

That is a bit low for rent in WI. But as the renter looks to be taking care of the land and you're happy, one might just want to stick with it.

[10x]

They are not making farmland any more.
Find out what the current agreement is, the taxes on the land, and the income from the farmers.
Here land rental can be as high as $4000 a year for 160 acres - for grazing much less.
You may be able to get more income from rental that from investing money from the sale in a dubious economy.

[15meter]

Don't forget, whoever those cow's belong to might be your buyer. Keep it friendly, its obvious your dad had some sort of relationship with them.

Perhaps had a relationship, I had a cousin whose neighbor split a wooded building site of his property. The surveyor stepped out into Frank's field to shoot a line in the clear to mark the property lines. The new owner found the temporary survey stakes and assumed that was where the property line was. He put in a driveway and started using it going across my cousin's field. He ordered my cousin to stay off "his" property.

My cousin had to have his farm surveyed to retrieve his own property. A centennial farm, been in his family for WELL over a hundred years.

Over the years I ran into several similar silly situations. People who were either clueless about property lines or just didn't care.

Can't count the number of times I've had horse people wandering across fields. They were flat out offended when I told them they had to stop trespassing.

"It's not fair! You've got all this land and we can't use it!"

As they ride through ripe soybeans, shelling them out on the ground with every step.

[john.k]

Woman behind me has a slight problem .....I checked her title for a boundary fence ,and lo and behold ,the land is still in the names of her grandparents and great uncle ...who must have died over 50 years ago........the state revenooers are going to love this one .

[10x]

Perhaps had a relationship, I had a cousin whose neighbor split a wooded building site of his property. The surveyor stepped out into Frank's field to shoot a line in the clear to mark the property lines. The new owner found the temporary survey stakes and assumed that was where the property line was. He put in a driveway and started using it going across my cousin's field. He ordered my cousin to stay off "his" property.

My cousin had to have his farm surveyed to retrieve his own property. A centennial farm, been in his family for WELL over a hundred years.

Over the years I ran into several similar silly situations. People who were either clueless about property lines or just didn't care.

Can't count the number of times I've had horse people wandering across fields. They were flat out offended when I told them they had to stop trespassing.

"It's not fair! You've got all this land and we can't use it!"

As they ride through ripe soybeans, shelling them out on the ground with every step.

There are city folk who do not understand the need to not trample a seed crop. They do NOT know what swaths ready for combining are.
I had a tenant who let her children ride quads over the hayfield outside the yard. Trampled it flat. in fact they made a game of trampling it. They did not know that the hay needed to be standing to be cut and was a cash crop for me that helped keep their rent low.

[waksupi]

It used to be a regular thing for cattle being driven through my property during round up. Never bothered me, I knew most of the cowboys working the herd.
I did have an incident many years ago, of two women riding their horses through the property while topless. I'm still waiting for them to come back.

[15meter]

It used to be a regular thing for cattle being driven through my property during round up. Never bothered me, I knew most of the cowboys working the herd.
I did have an incident many years ago, of two women riding their horses through the property while topless. I'm still waiting for them to come back.

There's not enough eye bleach in the world to deal with the aftermath of the soybean trampler topless.

[GregLaROCHE]

If perspective buyers of the house are planning on farming the land, maybe they would opt to pay less without most of the land included. Whoever is using the land or someone else, maybe interested in buying it.