What landlords should know about protecting their land value
Monday, August 5, 2013
The value of your land should be growing by four to seven per cent a year. Making sure you know what is happening to your soil fertility will help safeguard your investment
by PAT LYNCH
People who own farm land and rent it out should be aware of numerous things. If you are a landlord, read on. If you are a renter, maybe show this article to your landlord.
If you own land, you have a significant investment. The exact amount varies but ranges from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions. You should know what is happening to your investment. Few landlords do.
The areas of concern are tillage, weeds and fertility. We know there is a yield increase with tillage versus no-till. But there is a cost to tillage. The potential for soil erosion increases every time soil is worked.
Working soil to plant is easier than no-tilling. But some soils should never be worked. Some land should be either no-till or in trees. If you have rolling land, you must watch what is happening and protect your investment by keeping erosion under control. And if your current renter is working rolling ground, have a discussion as to how things can change.
Another area of concern is weed control. It is pretty simple to plant Roundup Ready crops and only spray glyphosate. And it is inexpensive. But this is a good way to get resistant weeds, as many producers have already found out. I am told of land in the United States that growers do not want to rent because the weeds are resistant to more than one herbicide. It is called multiple resistance.
As a landlord, you need to know the herbicide program your renters use and what steps they take to reduce chances of resistance. And ask what resistant weeds are already on your farm. Most Ontario farms have at least one weed species resistant to one herbicide. If your renters say they have no resistant weeds, ask more questions. The worst weeds are those that are resistant to a number of herbicides. And we have weeds in Ontario that have multiple resistance.
The issue that concerns me the most is soil fertility. You can grow crops and use low rates of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) and have minimal yield loss. There are companies that promote their product because they maintain you can get good yields with low rates of fertilizer. There is a certain amount of truth to these claims. But the crop does remove fertilizer from the soil. This is fertilizer you or someone else has applied. It is not magic. Crops remove nutrients and the soil test levels will drop unless you replace those nutrients.
A three-crop system of corn, beans and wheat will remove $150 to $200 of P and K and micronutrients per acre over three years. It is possible to grow a crop with a quarter to a third of this amount by mining the soil.
To watch what is occurring, you should have a soil test at the start of the rental period and one at the end. This should be accompanied by records showing what fertilizer was applied and what yields were obtained. These numbers should be verified by a certified crop advisor (CCA). Certified crop advisors are to crops what accountants are for income tax. They verify that what is being said or done is actual.
Most growers are already working with one or more CCAs. It should not be hard to get verification.
As a landlord, your investment should be growing by four to seven per cent a year. With growth like that, you have to take steps to ensure your investment is being protected. Sometimes the renter who is willing to pay the highest rent may not be your best renter. BF
Consulting agronomist Pat Lynch, CCA (ON) formerly worked with the Ontario agriculture ministry and with Cargill.