Leasing pasture

[Wakey]

We moved to the new property and love it!

The pasture was leased to and older fella that keeps his brood mares and foal on it. He said the previous owner simply asked him to keep the field cut, no money changed hands. Okay, lol.

In about a week I will be finished "moving in" so I want to get my ducks in a row.

I called the county extension agent and pasture leases for about $22.00 an acre.

Would maintenance of the pasture (weeds, bush hog, overseeding) typically be handled by the lessee as well?

The pasture looks pretty bad, no bald spots but it needs to be sprayed.

Another option I thought about was partnering with someone that does hay. In that case the field would certainly look nice but I'm unsure which would generate more income.

I don't currently have a tractor and won't for the foreseeable future because I still have another home to build here on site.

We are talking about 25 acres of pasture.

 

[NorTracNY]

If you don't have a tractor and don't wan the land to grow up wild, I'd let the neighbor continue to use the land. Why bother charging ~$550 to the neighbor if he's taking care of it. Maybe I'd put something in writing and charge him $1. If you do charge someone money, then you are accepting some time of responsibility for the condition of the land.

 

[fishheadbob]

If you don't have a tractor and don't wan the land to grow up wild, I'd let the neighbor continue to use the land. Why bother charging ~$550 to the neighbor if he's taking care of it. Maybe I'd put something in writing and charge him $1. If you do charge someone money, then you are accepting some time of responsibility for the condition of the land.

X2 .

 

[smstonypoint]

Without a tractor and rotary cutter,, you would have to pay someone to cut the pasture in order to keep it from becoming overgrown. According to http://www.agecon.uga.edu/extension/pubs/documents/CustomFarmRatesReport-2014.pdf, the average custom rate for bush hogging pastures in GA in 2014 was $30/acre.

Steve

 

[Wakey]

Yeah, that is why I'm asking here before I speak to him. I was hoping people would say he's responsible for spraying weeds lol

I guess that might bring hay into the picture, possibly. I know who to ask, he has a ton of land near me.

If anyone has some advice on haying, I'd appreciate it.

As for the old fella, he's a heck of a nice guy, retired LEO. I'll discuss with him the condition of the grass, I'd like to work something out but there is no way I want fields in this condition if there is another alternative (haying).

Thanks for any advice!

 

[hawkeye08]

Around here, the landowner is liable if the animals get loose and cause damage (including being the road and getting hit by car). We stopped renting our pasture years ago because of the elk knocking the 5 strand barbwire fences down and the fear of getting sued. We have a decent umbrella policy to handle it, but did not want the stress.

 

[Wagtail]

Without a tractor and rotary cutter,, you would have to pay someone to cut the pasture in order to keep it from becoming overgrown. According to http://www.agecon.uga.edu/extension/pubs/documents/CustomFarmRatesReport-2014.pdf, the average custom rate for bush hogging pastures in GA in 2014 was $30/acre.

Steve

Hmmm... I just finished a 'neighbourly' 3 acre slashing job (8hrs total) = 1/2 case of Pinot Noir!

Tractor fun + Top-plonk. :thumbsup:

 

[DrRod]

Apologies if you know this but hay isn't just pasture left to grow. This is especially true if the live stock has selectively grazed off the good stuff. Commercial hay needs to be pretty close to purely one crop -- alfalfa, orchard grass, timothy etc. Sometimes you can sell mixed hay but even then it need to be close to weed free. By the time you pay for tilling, spraying plating and harvesting [not to mention storage, loading, and shipping of a big bulky product] you will be in pretty deep.

But even a "natural" pasture should be mowed a couple times of year to keep down brush and break up manure piles. This also helps re-seed with the good stuff as it will be in the manure [works for horses and donkeys, not so much for cows due to their digestive efficiencies].

I might suggest asking your neighbor if he could take care of the mowing. Looks like he has a lot of animals on the land and would have to pay a lot to keep them elsewhere. Plus the proximity is worth a lot.

Have you contacted the former owner to confirm that he wasn't paying anything?

I have a neighbor who keeps horses on his own pasture [extremely over grazed] and he cuts hay off numerous fields around the valley. Its a free exchange basis where he gets the hay but we all get our fields mowed. Must say the hay isn't commercial grade but its good enough for him to keep his horses fed. If he mows and it gets ruined I will always pay him for his time and fuel -- its only fair -- but he never asks or expects it.

 

[DrRod]

Also, I would be interested in knowing what he does will all those donkeys. I have read that there is a shortage of mules and donkeys because the military has been buying them for logistics purposes in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. The New Yorker did an article on how they ship plane loads of donkeys top give to their local allies in the remote mountains. Interesting that while the Army mountain division uses mules, they found that the Afghans we surprised how big they were and didn't adapt to working with them well. So they shifted to smaller donkeys. No one knows what happened to the mules but its rumored that they were delicious.

 

[kcflhrc]

You aren't going to get much money for Hay. Neighbor pays me between $200 and $250 a year to Hay my 10 acres. Probably only haying about 7 actually. I personally wouldn't want to lease any of my property. It's only 10 acres and I want it all to myself.