Farm incubators are sprouting up throughout the country as an innovative way to support beginning farmers. By providing access to affordable land, farm incubator programs help remove a key barrier faced by most new farmers. The arrangement allows multiple farmers to each have access to a portion of one or more farm properties where they can launch and run their respective separate farm operations. The farm incubator typically provides tools and equipment as well as packing and storage facilities for the participating farmers to share. In addition, most incubators offer training and technical assistance to help farmers refine both their farming and business skills. In this way, farm incubators provide beginning farmers the opportunity to learn the trade and get a sense of whether they enjoy running a farm business without having to incur a lot of risk and upfront costs. This resource comprises the “tools” that landowners and farmers need in order to build a strong incubator farm program based on a solid lease.

The most important tool: good communication

An essential component of a successful farm incubator project is the lease agreement between the landowner and each of the participating farmers. The lease agreement defines the relationship between the parties. A well-thought-out lease agreement can help facilitate good communication and provide stability and predictability for all parties by setting clear expectations. The lease agreement also protects the farm incubator project from liability by holding each beginning farmer accountable should she decide to back out of the arrangement. What if the farmer simply gets cold feet? Or suddenly decides to quit upon realizing it’s rather exhausting to work 12-hour days in the blaring sun? This wouldn’t exactly be fair to the farm incubator project who has dedicated time and energy and committed a plot to the farmer. In this way, the lease helps make sure the beginning farmer takes the arrangement and opportunity seriously. The lease keeps the farmer on the hook to do the best she reasonably can to stick it out for the duration of the lease. Of course, the lease can include provisions to give farmers an out if there’s an emergency or crisis. Bear in mind that a lease is only as good as the foundation of communication on which it rests. If the landowner and beginning farmer haven’t laid that foundation during the process of assembling the lease, the product won’t be as strong.

A toolbox with many parts

Farm Commons focuses on creating flexible, adaptable tools that empower farmers to move forward in addressing their legal matters. Farmers, and business owners of all types, are sometimes under the misimpression that legal matters can be addressed by simply using the “correct” form or language. This often isn’t the case, especially when it comes to leases. The “correct” language varies widely between farmers as it’s based on each business’ unique circumstances and process.

There is no single contract that is best for all farmers and all incubator programs. To build legal resiliency, each farmer will need to follow a process of exploration, negotiation, and drafting that is unique to his or her farm. Legal risks cannot be completely eliminated by using a lease. Enforceability depends on many factors, such as the specific circumstances of the problem that arises, the farmer’s specific state laws, past practices, and many other factors that can’t be explored in this type of resource. This toolbox is designed primarily to help farmers build their own strategy to avoid legal problems through good communication, which is also good legal protection should a problem materialize. This toolbox IS NOT legal advice specific to any circumstance and should not be used as such.

The tools we provide are meant to help farmers and landowners who are setting up an incubator farm navigate the process of creating a strong lease agreement. The checklist that follows highlights the key points you should thoroughly consider and address in your lease. We also include a profile of an incubator farm in Wisconsin, Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery (PFFC), that has a solid lease in place between the landowner and participating farmer. This true story helps illustrate the importance of going through the process of getting a lease in place at the outset and demonstrates how having a lease in place can really help foster good communication, a respectful relationship, and a successful program. Farm Commons helped create the lease that PFFC is using. A version of this lease is included in this resource as a sample lease along with explanations of the various provisions. In addition, we include two tip sheets for creating an Equipment Manual and an Animal Husbandry Manual. Having these manuals in place, if applicable to your situation, can be helpful to further set up clear expectations, systems, and procedures for how things are managed on the incubator farm.

After opening this toolbox, farmers should:

• understand how careful selection of beginning farmers and solid communication between parties leads to a successful farm incubator lease
• know the basic elements of a thorough farm incubator lease
• gain a sense of how to adapt farm incubator lease elements for different situations
• have the resources they need to begin a farm incubator lease adapted to their own unique situation.