As good as the paper it’s written on

“There are horror stories from people about leases going bad. Often, when you dig deeper, it was a verbal agreement or it was a lease agreement that wasn’t written very clearly or didn’t have a lot of protections built into it,” said Jae Silverman.

Silverman is the Massachusetts field agent for Land for Good (LFG), a nonprofit working on farm land access, tenure and transfer. They discussed farm leases at the 2026 Northeast Grazing & Livestock Conference.

According to Silverman, hay and livestock operations in the Northeast often rely on leased land based on a verbal agreement only.

They are not unequivocally opposed to verbal agreements. For example, if the leased parcel isn’t critical to the farm operation or the farmer isn’t sure they want to commit to the parcel, then a handshake might suffice. But overall, Silverman thinks verbal agreements can leave a farm in a vulnerable position, and they and LFG advocate for getting leases in writing whenever it’s possible and appropriate.

They used an old saying to illustrate the risk associated with handshake agreements: “A verbal agreement is as good as the paper it’s written on.”

Written leases can be beneficial for both parties. For farmers, they can help build stability and longevity. For landowners, making land available for farming can secure a sustainable, productive use of property.

A good farmland lease agreement should include several elements to provide security and clarity for both parties. At minimum, a lease should contain five essential components: who is involved, the location of the premises with clear boundaries beyond just an address, when the lease starts and ends, what consideration is being exchanged (monetary or otherwise) and the signatures of all parties.

Beyond these basic elements, effective hay and pasture leases should address several additional considerations. The agreement should clearly define what activities can and cannot be performed by both the farmer and landowner, including restrictions on mowing, brush hogging or applying substances without mutual consent.

Silverman, who has an agriculture enterprise selling square bales produced on 60 acres of leased land in Conway, MA, shared an anecdotal story about why clear lease terms are important.

It was a wet year. They were mowing, and they had to skip a muddy section of the field. The well-intentioned landowner they were leasing the field from used a brush hog and mowed perpendicularly to Silverman’s mowing pattern, creating a large set of ruts. To this day, Silverman cannot mow that section of field. Had they and the landowner added something to their lease about equipment restrictions, the damage might have been avoided.

A lease should also include information regarding any infrastructure the lessee is permitted to use including who maintains fencing, repairs barns or handles ongoing maintenance. Access rights are also important to consider in drafting a lease. These specify who can use the land and when.

The lease should also have renewal and termination procedures, outlining specific reasons for early termination and what happens when the lease ends, such as protocols for removing hay from barns.

Silverman suggested including dispute resolution mechanisms. Agricultural mediation programs are available in many Northeastern states.

The LFG website includes several lease-related resources including “Elements of the Good Farm Lease.” It outlines practical lease terms in non-legal language and serves as an easy entry point to drafting a lease. The website also provides resources to assist landowners in how to make land available for farming by others and provides a brief introduction to the issues involved in renting land to a farmer.

Silverman recommended using Google My Maps as a valuable tool for drafting lease agreements. It has several easy-to-use features including color coding capabilities, allowing the user to organize different fields with different colors as well boundary mapping. LFG has tutorials on their website about using Google My Maps including how to calculate acreage.

Ideally, both parties should have a state-specific attorney to review the draft lease agreement. However, Silverman noted that when bringing in lawyers, “it all comes down to what peoples timelines and comfort levels are.”

by Sonja Heyck-Merlin