We came across an interesting article from The Christian Science Monitor, dated February 25, about women farmland owners in Iowa. The article highlights Margaret Doermann, whose husband had past away and was left in charge of the farmland. Doermann's husband had always farmed the land, but she now leased it out to a local farmer. She realized one day her stream on her property had turned brown from field runoff and her hills were plowed vertically. "That hill had been tilled up and down so the soil would wash right off," explained Doermann. Her concerns landed her in court with the local farmer and they ended up having to renegotiate the farmland lease.

With limited farmland management knowledge, Doermann ended up getting herself into quite a mess with her farmland lease with the farmer. If she would have been aware of how to properly negotiate the farming contracts and what all to include, Doermann could have saved herself a lot of time and money.

A farmland manager may be helpful if a farmland owner has:

As a land owner, it is always a good idea to be aware of conservation practices when considering the leasing of farmland. According to the US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservations Service, some common conservation of farmland practices include: