dont know what to think

Brian806

Member
A guy about 6 miles from me came to see if id be interested in farming his land! Its a decent amount for my area! Hes not happy with the people who are farming it now so hes kicking them out! Problem is i know the people who are farming it now not close with them but know them! I feel like im stealing it from them! But the owner came to me and is kicking them off so someone will get it anyhow! I dont know what to think!
 
I think you run with it and not even think about the last renter. they screwed up the relationship with the owner, not you. And since you know the owner values how his ground is managed more than the almighty dollar, you should do everything you can to make sure you take care of it the way he would.

Sounds like the start of something good.
 
If you know the ones being kicked off well enough, maybe ask them for their side of the story. It could be you do not want to deal with this particular land owner. Renting land is always a give and take game, some people just do not get along with certain personalities. Check it out, and if the terms are right, go for it.
 
You're not stealing anything! they were 'evicted'/thrown off....You were asked to farm it. Feel honored! rent it and dont worry.I recently rented a farm with the same circumstance. Talk to the former tenant if you like.
 
Sounds like a good deal.........maybe. I'd go talk to the owner again and get more detail about why he's kicking them out. Quiz him more about what the previous renter did or did not do. The fact that he came to you tells me that you have a good reputation or he thinks he can "make" you do exactly what he wants. Has there been a history of him being hard to deal with? You need to know.
 
Do it and don't look back. I have had the same thing happen to me, and I'm still friends with the former tenant. It's just business.
 
OK, a guy here tried stabbing me in the back over a lousy 7 acres. It's adjacent to other fields he rents. I'm renting it from my MIL. This guy didn't even go to her but to my BIL who has no control over the land in question. OK in my book that sneaky and underhanded. He lost that piece in the first place because his got my FIL angry. Now the FIL is gone he wants it back. After this stunt the only way he's going to farm it is if he buys it and it isn't for sale.

You on the other hand didn't even approach the owner. The owner is kicking the other guy to the curb and he went to you. He A. knows you B. approves of what you are doing. I'd take it if it's affordable and go with it. If the other guy gets bent out of shape that's his problem.

Rick
 
How many acres?

Do you know the landlord well? Ask the landlord what made him mad about the previous renter.

The pasture renter we had was not renewed because his cattle were busting fences because he was not checking up on them regularly. Then he leave them in there till the grass was gone and the dirt was blowing. This caused alot of weed problems.

The new renters bring thier own electric fencer, the cattle are smaller, and cattle are removed when the grass starts to get short.
 
Keep in mind that some low-down landowners will play this game to increase their rent... a landowner around here did this every time his contract was due for renewal (until people got sick of it and would not even negotiate with him anymore.)

Landowner would talk to a second farmer about renting the land to him for a higher price and verbally agree to it.... then go back to his original renter and use that other verbal agreement to leverage a higher land-rent out of his original renter AND sign a contract with him. Then he'd go to the second guy and say, "Sorry, but my current renter agreed to increase his rent payments."

Not common - but it does happen. So I wouldn't order any seed/chemical until you have a signed contract with the guy.
 
I would certainly express an interest and at the same time I would try to get intel about the situation including how the owner is in general. There are tracts of 50 or 75 acres of ground not rented around here and there is usually a reason tracing back to the owner. I would base expenditures if you go ahead on this on the basis that you could be gone in a year or two. Hopefully, I am not being too pessimistic about the situation.
 
(quoted from post at 08:21:11 10/30/14) I would certainly express an interest and at the same time I would try to get intel about the situation including how the owner is in general. There are tracts of 50 or 75 acres of ground not rented around here and there is usually a reason tracing back to the owner. I would base expenditures if you go ahead on this on the basis that you could be gone in a year or two. Hopefully, I am not being too pessimistic about the situation.

Our problem here is renters for the most part. They will do things like what the one guy tried doing to me. Or we had one guy that rented a piece from an old guy. Kept paying him rates from 15 years ago telling him that's all it was worth. When the old guy had to go into assisted living his son took over controlling the land and found out that his dad had been getting short changed for years. Guess who isn't renting that land any longer? Or the guy who hired a kid then tried to get the kid to get his dad to retire from farming so he could rent the land. Soon as the kids brother came home to take up farming with the dad the other farmer fired the kid.

Rick
 

Go by your relationships. I make it a point to not take land or sales from friends without talking to them first. Some owners and some customers are jerks. It is your long term relationships that you want to take care of. The people that have been working the ground may tell you that they told the landowner to find somebody else because they were done with him. It is always good to talk.
 
I had a similar incident. The landowner sent me a letter saying that he wanted me to work it. I took the letter to the guy who'd been working it.
No hard feelings between him and me since it wasn't my idea.
 
Go ahead with it. The guy would not have asked you if he was happy with the others. I kicked two guys out from doing our hay and started doing it myself. We always seemed to get the s**t end of the stick.
 
I just took over some acreage from a guy whose family has been leasing it since he was a kid. I bought the place a few years back and kept him on as a tenant. This fall we parted friends.

It is all in how you do it.
 
People will think what they want, but you should sleep fine at night.

Interesting to see if its a real offer or just an ego eating ploy, see it all different ways as others mention.

Paul
 
Had a neighbor approach me about renting her land . Same situation, friends rent it now. Told her I had to think about it and went home and called them. Turns out she was trying to get me to bid them up. Don't want to get into any of those wars, especially over 5 acres!
 
Things like that can be uncomfortable.

If it were me, once it was announced to the other people that they're out, I'd call them and talk it over.

Tell them you were approached, let them know it happens to be a good opportunity for you right now that you can't ignore. And you just want to be sure it doesn't look like you came in trying to undercut them or anything. Something along the lines of "I know you guys well enough to know you probably did a good job up there, so I just want to hear from you what I'm getting into".

Obviously they'll probably have a few unkind words and tell you to steer clear of him, and you can take that all into consideration, and who knows, they may have some valid gripes that you're unaware of.

Tell them that you're going to meet with him to hammer out details and that won't repeat anything they told you, that you appreciate their advice and you'll proceed with caution.

Then you're still in, you've complimented them, considered their advice, and everyone's happy.
 
Don't feel bad. I changed farmers myself this year. I have been working with the same farmer for 16 years, in fact he and his family was working the land when I bought it, their contract just conveyed over to me. I started feeling that me and my land was being taken for granted. I like neat clean fields, drainage ditches/pipes kept clean and maintained. Well, I noticed that one of my pipes had been run over on the ends and pinched almost closed, and some other issues so I mentioned to them about repairing and the answer I got was "if and when we get time" . Well that was last year nothing got done because hunting season came so, this spring I told them that this year would be their last. The contracts runs from year to year so I could do this. Their first response was to offer me more money. No thanks ! I rented it to a competitor farmer for the same money so nobody could say anything.. My land , my decision.
 
If you you are trying to make your living farming, then get after it. If the rent is what you can afford, and the ground is descent, then take it on. If you know the current tenant well enough, feel free to visit with him. That would be the correct thing to do.

But again, if you are farming for a living, and you let too many feelings get in the way, you will possibly end up loosing money, which is the reason for farming in the first place.

Anyone here can tell you they farm for the love of farming. I've done it most of my life, and I do enjoy it most of the time, but I farm to make money, not be the biggest friend to the local population. You need to look at it as a business, and make your decision on that. You don't have near enough details for people on here to sway your decision one way or the other.

Look at your situation, and go accordingly. Good luck. Bob
 
I got an idea... I think we should all mark this date on the calendar for this time next year... and you can come back and post about who the no-good sob is in a years time. Take the land and it'll probably be YOU. LOL

You know what... that's about as close to a no win situation as you can get. If I were you I'd probably ask myself what the other guy is doing wrong that the owner is not happy. If you can't see the problem, RUN. If you can see the problem and the owner is upfront about that... mabey it's worth consideration. If not, see my first paragraph...
Some people are just prickly, ungrateful, miserable hateful bastards and nothing will please them.

Rod
 
If the land owner came to you then it is not an issue with the former tenant. Just make sure that the offer is a legitimate one. Meaning that the owner is not going to just use you to run the rent up on the current tenant.

I would not go to the current tenant at this time. You need to talk to the landlord and try to figure out what his issue with his current tenant is. IF it is farming practices then that is fine. If he is just trying to run up the rents then that is one I walk away from. IF the landlord is trying to just run up the rent then I would go to the current tenant.

My sons gained two farms this year. They where asked to farm them. The landlords actually took a little bit smaller rents but they are getting their farm ran the way they want it. One of the fields had had corn on it for ten years. The prior tenant refused to rotate to other crops while corn was sky high.

There is no 100% answer. IF your going to grow farming your going to have to have land. The available land is always in play. So deal honest and you will be OK. I will guarantee that many of your friends/neighbors would already have the contract signed before you ever heard a thing about it.
 
sounds like he rubbed you wrong with that off the cuff remark , if and when I get the time .
 
It is a business decision, not a personal decision, if picking up the land makes business sense and the landlord is reputable then it is a solid deal, those other people would not worry about you if they saw a chance to make a dollar.
 
I would use caution, but make the decision based on your business and not emotion. If what you say it true, guy came to you said he was unhappy and wants a new renter. If he didn't start bad-mouthing the guy etc, find out what the owner didn't like and a make a decision.

My situation was completely different. Three farmers in my area. Had farmer #2 approach me and ask me how much he would have to pay me to rent my land out from under farmer #1, because he wanted to tick off farmer #1. Told him with that statement. Probably no amount of money would work. Hit the road.

Rick
 

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