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Building Better Landlord Relationships

In an age of rising input prices and volatile grain markets, locking in a decent profit could come down to your long-term relationship with landlords – whether it's a friendly uncle or a wary-eyed young heir who never grew up on a farm but now finds himself with property. A good relationship based on two-way communication can help you avoid sticker shock when it comes time to renegotiate the rent.

You'll know you're doing it right if the landlords come to you with offers to invest in nearby land, or when they tell their friends what a good job you're doing with their property.

Happily those are the kinds of things that are happening to the Wachtel family, who work with over 40 landlords in a wide range of business agreements for their farm near Altamont, Ill. The Wachtels work with everyone from extended family members, to absentee owners who never farmed a day in their lives.

People skills, good communication and word of mouth all help the Wachtels keep and attract new landowners.

Building that relationship may be most crucial with absentee, non-farming owners says Todd, who works with family members Calvin, Gary and Ken at the family grain farm. They take every opportunity to work with owners who may have just inherited property or don't know much about agriculture. Often those are the landowners who may 'hear things' from others and begin doubting the fairness of a land lease.

"We try to break down some of the issues in agriculture so it's easy to understand," says Todd. "Part of it is helping them understand what's going on, but a lot of it boils down to building a relationship where they trust you.

"That has to be earned, by doing the best job you can farming their land, keeping the fields clean, and using common sense, like trying not to harvest when the wind is going to blow dirt toward their houses," he says.

Word of mouth is the best advertising, concludes Todd. "People drive by and see how you take care of other people's farms, and a lot of times they'll stop and talk," he adds. "You start the relationship building and you may end up farming their ground. That's happened more than once."