FOR ASPIRING FARMERS

How do you find a farm to lease?

You find a farm to lease through retiring farmers, rural agents and the advisers who work with farming families.

Look for farmers who want to stay on the land but can't keep up the work, ask agents about farms that have sat on their books, and tell the accountants, succession planners and farm advisers what you're after.

A lease can be your first step onto a farm, and a lease to buy can be a step towards owning one.

Start with the farmers who are slowing down

Plenty of retiring farmers want to scale back without leaving. A lease lets them stop the physical work and keep ownership of the land, with rent coming in. Whether they keep living in the house is a term you agree at the start.

Keep your ear to the ground. You hear of a farmer wanting to lease their land, you notice a fence that's been down a while, you meet someone at dinner who knows the district. Start the conversation.

When you go and talk with them, keep the first conversation about them. Ask about their farming history and tell them what you like about their place. If it fits, mention what you're hoping to do.

Talk to rural real estate agents

Most rural agents have farms that have been on their books for a long time. Often the owners would do something other than sell, but don't know the options. Agents are usually community minded people, and they often know which owners want to do something other than sell.

When you see a farm that's been on the market for a while, email the agent. Introduce yourself, say you've noticed the place, and ask whether the owner would lease it, or talk about vendor terms so you could buy them out over time.

If they say yes, you're in. If they say no, one more person knows you're looking.

Keep a little black book

Write down every retirement aged farmer you meet or hear about in the areas you'd like to farm. Add the agents, accountants, succession planners, stock agents and farm advisers. They know who's winding down, often before anyone else does.

Know what kind of lease you're asking for

• A flexible lease. A lower base rent plus a share of the farm's operating profit. In a good year the owner earns more than a flat lease, and in a bad year you aren't crippled by a payment you can't meet.

• A lease to buy. A lease with an option to buy the farm at the end, at a price agreed at the start. You build equity through your farming profits. The price usually reflects the farm's current value plus an agreed rise each year, and the value your improvements add beyond that price comes to you when you buy.

A flexible lease gets you onto the farm and leaves the title with the owner. A lease to buy is the one that sets the price at the start.

A flat lease set as a percentage of the land's value can be hard to carry when land prices rise faster than farm incomes. A lease that flexes with the season is more honest for both of you.

Get it in writing

How long is the lease? What happens at the end? Who pays for maintenance? What if you want to make improvements? Can the owner keep living in the house? All of it belongs in writing, drafted by a lawyer who knows agricultural leases.

The full guide, You Can Own a Farm, is free at cultivatefarms.com/resources.

You can build your own plan at cultivatefarms.com/plan.