Overview and Register
Farmers and landowners—and the land—benefit from good farm leases. A sound, written farm lease doesn’t have to be complicated, but it should have a solid legal foundation and reflect the interests and goals of both parties.
The Land For Good Build-A-Lease Tool will help you develop or improve your farm lease. With this Tool you can:
- Learn about farm leases
- Build a working version of a lease agreement that fits your situation or intent
- Share, review and edit the Tool output with your attorney and the other party
This tool was designed with New England farmers and landowners in mind and based on our work with them and other service providers. That doesn’t mean it isn’t useful elsewhere, but some language and clauses might be different in other regions.
This is an educational tool. Outputs are not a legal document nor should they replace legal advice from an attorney. You can use this tool to learn about farm leasing without filling in the template.
You can generate lease language to download (PDF), email, save and revise. Use this working document in discussions with landowners, farming tenants and advisors. Be sure to share it with an attorney for review, refinements and approval.
Read the instructions carefully and note the tool’s limitations to make the best and most efficient use of it. The tool is also currently under construction.
If you need individualized help with a farm lease or other farmland access, tenure or transfer situation in New England, please contact us.
Get started
The Land For Good Build-A-Lease Tool is free and available to anyone.
Acknowledgements
The development of this tool has been supported by grants from The Cedar Tree Foundation, The John Merck Fund, the USDA/NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (NIFA #2015-04544), and individual donors. We want to thank the following people who helped with tool content and testing: Attorneys Annette Higby, and Richard Cavanaugh, as well as farmers or landowners Ben Waterman, Mary Beth Poli, Jada Haas, Courtney Oman, Theresa Nolon, and Holly Menguc,
