Polk Soil and water conservation district

Agricultural land is a unique investment.  It relies on proper management and stewardship to maximize short-term profits and to retain it’s long-term value.  Land management decisions affect a farm’s resilience to weather extremes, productivity, input costs, rental income and even the overall value of the property.   

As a landowner, you have the right and the responsibility to manage your property in the way that best suits your needs and meets your responsibilities.  On rented land, the management responsibilities are still yours.  To make the best management decisions, your soil needs to be tested every three years.  In addition, the management practices, and crop rotations should be reviewed with both the farmer and landowner every two years.  By working together to implement management practices the farmer and landowner will get the best outcome. Below are some guidelines you can follow to help manage your investment:

1.       Be involved with oversight decisions. If you are renting your property to a farmer, it may not be appropriate to be involved in day-to-day decisions.  However, planning for regular review meetings semi-annual or annually) to review agronomy (planting, harvest, inputs applied/nutrients, crops planted, etc.) and land management (soil health, erosion, water quality) is appropriate.  Planning and goal setting in these meetings will be valuable to ensure that your investment is maintained properly.

2.       Know the condition of your land – Review the condition of the land using both visual and analytical tools.  Visually, you can review erosion, water ponding and soil color changes (especially on highly erodible soils).  Analytical tools can help you to determine water infiltration rates, soil aggregation, soil compaction, soil organic matter, nutrient availability, nitrate run-off and soil biology.  Consider creating a benchmark of your property that you can compare year to year so that you can see patterns of improvements.  This will help you and your farmer develop strategies to meet your goals.

3.       Know how to manage your land –Build a knowledge base of best management practices (bmp) for your soils and conditions.  There are many resources available through the local Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) offices, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and other public and private organizations. Discuss best management practices with your Farmer and work on a plan to implement them.

4.       Know how to choose a Farmer and set an expectation of how to work together – Choose a farmer that has similar values and that uses farming practices to maintain the productivity and resilience of the soils.  Consider interviewing multiple farmers and choosing someone that has both of your interests in mind. Once you have chosen your farmer partner, keep an open line of communication to work together respectfully as decisions need to be made.

5.       Think about the future.  Actively seek out opportunities that will improve productivity and resilience of the soil on your land. Consider long-term improvements that will benefit water quality and biodiversity.  If there are areas of the farm that are not productive, consider implementing conservation practices in these areas to benefit productivity or water quality. 

Working as a team with your farmer will ensure that short and long-term goals for the farm are met.  If you need assistance for how to work together as a team with your farmer, please contact the Polk Soil and Water Conservation District.  We have tools and services available to assist you.