Conservation and Farmland Leasing: Issues for Non-Operating Landowners

Many landowners and farmers want to engage in more conservation practices but are concerned about the impacts these conservation practices may have on relationships between landowners and farmers. For example, incorporation of cover crops can have costs to the farmer, but long-run benefits to both the farmer and landowner. We will cover issues related to owner-farmer relationships for conservation, nutrient management and cover crops. Conservation addendums to farmland leases available on farmdoc will be shown.

Presenter: Gary Schnitkey, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D., is a professor and farm management specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and regularly contributes content to farmdoc Daily. Schnitkey focuses on farm management and risk management by examining issues impacting the profitability of grain farms including corn-soybean rotations, machinery economics and factors separating profitable from unprofitable farms. Schnitkey grew up on a grain and hog farm in northwest Ohio and received his Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from UIUC.