Looking for possibilities and mutual goals. Contributed by Climate Land Leaders who rent out cropland

• What is your vision for your farming operation?
• What are your short- and long-term goals for your farming operation?
• How many years of experience do you have?
• How often do you meet with your current landowners (annually, bi-annually, etc.)?
• Are you okay with me visiting your farm (with an appointment)?
• I often ride the combine with my tenants. Would that be okay? 
• What is your rotation?
• Do you practice no-till?
• Would you be willing to do any contour farming on this land?

  

• Do you do your own spraying equipment? If not, how do you get the field sprayed? 
• Do you work with other landowners who have specific soil health goals?  If so, can you share how that relationship started up?
• Have you or are you willing to plant cover crops? If so, which cover crops did you plant and how did it go?
• Have you ever worked with non-GMO crops? 
• Would you be willing to seek out seeds that are not treated with neonicotinoids? 
• Would you be willing to significantly limit the use of pesticides and insecticides and let me know when you feel you must use them? I’d like to know what and how much is being used at the time that you feel a need to spray. 
• Where do you tend to get your farm information?
• How do you educate yourself?
• Are you willing to go to a Soil and Water Conservation Society/Practical Farmers of Iowa/Land Stewardship Project/etc. meeting with me?
• In land that you farm with a creek or river running through it, do you have buffers and if so what is the width of the buffer?  (not applicable in MN and WI as by law they have either 50- or 60-foot buffers)

A sample starter for limiting biocides: “I know you invest a lot and your practices have to make sense economically. I am very worried about insecticides, so if the use of insecticides ever is for just a small increase in yield, perhaps we could work out something that would protect your profit and reduce or eliminate the use of insecticides.”

There are a lot of Resources for helping with the farmland owner-tenant conversation, including these from the Land Stewardship Project and this one from Farm Commons. In addition, here is advice from Climate Land Leaders’ Farmer Advisor Wendy Johnson, who advised to “start small. Relationships are built on trust. You need to gain the trust of your tenant as well as the other way around.” Wendy offered these tips for building that trust:

• Share the risk—know the costs of making the change and help pay for it.
• Start riding along with your tenants in the combine, semi, or tractor.
• Communicate to your tenants your concerns about soil health, water quality, etc.
• Ask if they will attend a soil health meeting with you (local Soil and Water Conservation Districts are a good start).
• Show them the government options to help offset the costs of change.