Lease Clinic: Creating Agreements for Successful Farm Operations

Whether you’re about to negotiate your first lease or add a new one, this workshop will help you get the terms and security you need from your farm lease. We will cover cash leases, share leases, business funding and business advances, short and long term leases, lease negotiation, credit card processing, leasing terminals, and specialized clauses like rights of first refusal and options to buy. John Pen farms 1,200 acres in the Pajaro Valley, 700 acres in the Imperial Valley, and has decades of experience negotiating lease agreements, particularly when it comes to transitioning land to organic. Lisa Schwartz helps beginning farmers to find land, to negotiate leases, and to obtain business funding for their operations. Learn how to create a lease that builds trust between the landowner and farmer, and that can be sustained over the long haul.

Presenters:

Dick Pearson, Business Processors, Watsonville, CA;
Lisa Schwartz, NYMCA Capital, New York, NY.

Funded by the USDA BFRDP.