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Helping beginning farmers access land

Helping beginning farmers access land

Producers can lease land from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

An Iowa government program is helping new farmers access the land they need to raise a crop.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources’s (DNR) Lease to Beginning Farmer program allows producers to lease farmland owned by the DNR.

Producers are vetted by multiple agencies and must meet certain requirements to be eligible for the program, said Luke Kramme, land manager for the DNR.

“We partner with the Iowa Finance Authority (and the Iowa Agricultural Development Division) to certify and approve interested applicants to become beginning farmers,” Kramme told Farms.com. “There’s a list of qualifications that (the applicants) have to meet.

“Once the Iowa Finance Authority sends those applications to us, we give those approved farmers priority when we offer these leases.”

Interested farmers must be a permanent resident of Iowa, have the appropriate knowledge and equipment to farm, and must have a net worth lower than US$680,590. There is no age requirement for the lease.

The DNR has about 24,000 acres available for lease in 2020, and those acres can only be used for cash crop production.

Lease lengths and terms vary by location, and farmers use their harvest revenue to pay their lease fees and keep the rest.

The lease program also has environmental benefits.

DNR-owned land is managed for wildlife habitat, and a farmer’s crops can help provide food, Kramme said.

“We usually have a farmer leave about 10 per cent of the crop in the ground so that it gives animals some food and shelter,” he said.

Interested producers have until Dec. 1 to apply for the program.


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Video: US “Flash Drought” Worst in 133-160 Years + Disease taking a Bite out of US 2025 Corn/Soybean Crops


A dry August and a “flash drought” in the ECB (Eastern Corn Belt) the driest top 10 to 15 years in 150 to 160 years (Ohio the driest in 133 years) plus disease is taking a bite out of the 2025 U.S. corn and soybean crops.
It's going to be an early harvest. This could be the start of the 89-year drought cycle that may have been delayed until 2026 as La Nina maybe returning.
The USDA September crop report is all about record corn ears and record soybean counts but the October USDA crop report will be about pod and ear weights.
Stats Canada reported higher forecasts for the 2025 Canadian Prairies all wheat and canola crops vs. last year based on satellite imagery but are they overestimating production?
The 2025 Great ON Yield Tour and Quebec crop tours are projecting corn and soybean crops below the 10-year average.
China's Vice Commerce Ministry Li Chenggang visits Washington this week as we continue to connect the dots is a positive sign towards a China/U.S. trade deal. But will U.S. farmers have a winter without China as they buy more soybeans from Uruguay/Argentina? U.S. Northern Plain soybean farmers are seeing red with flat prices at $8.97/bu!
U.S. corn exports on record pace up 99% vs. last year.
Fund short covering continues in corn futures bottom is in!