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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1976-10-06, Page 13E. t Through Brusseis Post dithilitect Mott Ada Guaranteed pricing — You'll save money' if fertilizer prices go up in the spring. If prices go down your CO-OP will'rebate the difference. You can't lose! • Equipment is available now — because spreading service isn't as busy in the fall. You can fertilize when it suits you, when fields are still firm and dry. 'Fertilizer is available now — There's a much better chance of getting your exact fertilizer formula in the fall. And without waiting in,the usual spring line-up. Your crops get a fast, healthy start — when fertilizer is where it's needed, when it's needed during the critical early growth. Eases your spring work load Your time in the spring when you've got plenty to do is valuable. Get your fertilizer on in the fall, when you can afford the time? These are all good reasons for spreading CO-OP fertilizer this fall. And your Co-operative is ready to help in any w ay you want, with: custom blended formulations, bulk spreading, equipment rental, bag or bulk pick-up ordelivery. Fertilize your fields, now! Plow it down and forget about it. It's one less job you'll have to find time for next spring! IiIkUSS.E.LS 887 ,6453 W1NGHAM 357.27 11.41=C1 uNiteD:co.aotteRATivis .OF. ONTARIO. Co•opetatives worktor you!, THE BRUSSELS 00ST- OCTOBER 196 ► u ggestions for Women By.A, N, Watson, 0.A.C, Wo men own a significant amount of farmland in Ontario. Many farm wives are joint owners husbands M • farm with their pro'perty. For those who are not joint owners, the Ontario law provides dower rights which amounts to 1/3 interest in all of a husband's real estate. It is, therefore, important to think of Women as landowners in the fanning community , Women who are landowners or part landowners, and whose husbands are farming, seldom encounter difficulties with the land ownership. , For most practical purposes and from an outward appearance of doing business, it is impossible to tell wh ether a farm is owned by a man,his wife or jointly. It is only when matters of the law regarding title to the property come up, that any difference appears. Many farms are owned ' by husbands and wives as joint tenants. This means that when one of the partners dies, the title . of the property automatically goes to the other partner. This will happen regardless of wills or other arrangements since joint tenancy means that the survivor'' will take title to the property. For partners who are planning, their estates and do not wish this to happen, the property should be owned as tenants-in-common, , or' under some other arrangement. Because women on 'the average outlive men, and becauSe many farms are owned in joint tenancy ; chances are that many farm wives will become lady landowners. At this point in time, there are many portant decisions to be 'made, owe wish to reflect on some of the reasoning behind them if you. ateorif you should become a lady andowner. pie first major decision will be (liechoice of retaining ownership ix selling the farm. This decision lust be made by the individual, , ;along into account the circumstances of that individual. Only history will tell us the right oryirongtime to sell a •farna.Iirou'• OlOiltely have to decide on. ihether dr not to sell a farm 'on Other than the current market Riice, We believe that farmland is good investment and if you do, it need the proceeds fronf,the !arse to live on, then you must vell consider maintaining ,wnership of the farm as an uivestment. H owever, do not pods this at the expense of living poet and dying rich. Another rule d thumb, to keep in m ind if you decide to sell your farm is that your best buyer likely lives within ai mile of your farm. Don't overlook this obvious point when lomesto selling farm property • let us suppose you Jake the hate of maintaining ownership of he farm. You then have several Chet alternati, ves open to you. 1) You may wish to carry on the farming operations as whet operator. ,2) You may wish to carry on !le faun operation and hire a farm manager to manage the eration for you, ,,,3) You Ma wish to faint it on a spate basis with a farmer in the hitutiunity; or 01 ;1) You May wish to rent it out a cash rental basis to a fernier the community, Fah, of these alternatives h as civantages and disadvantages Reasons for operating an far °ui*ti name Will be personal.: haveth e know= how 611thaY ha and iiaty to fartri every bit AS' a$ ether farther and Sttedded iSt Well. Yen niay have a famiily her ttif Whom you wish' tp intarri the farming operations' as a unit. However, in, the majority of cases, this is not the route that is taken when women become lady landowners, The second alternative of hiring a manager is sastisfactory, provided the operation is big enough to provide an income for you and for your manager. The farm manager will be considerably more expensive than a regular farm employee would be under ordinary conditions. It is, there fore, only the larger operations that are able,to afford this type of help today and so this alternative is n of widely •used in Ontario. • The third alternative is that of sharecropping, and this is widely accepted, particularly in cash crop areas. A share arrangement involving li vestock is possible, but presents many more problems. Share arrangements usually vary from a . one-third/two-thirds arrangement, • where the landowner provides only the land and the tenant provides everything else, to a fifty-fifty arrangement,, whereby the landlord provides • the land, the tenant provides the labor., and machinery, and •all , other •expenses •are split on a fifty-fifty basis. In order for a share•basis to work, you must• have' .complete faith in Our tenant. If you have any doubt whatsoever about the ethics of your tenant, 'we' do not recommend this system. It is just tOQ„ cask;',;f6;. alter yields if the ::tenant cannot be trusted. There is also some, danger in, share- cropping y our land with, &tenant when that tenant cash renting other land. The tendency might be to Perforrn ' the necessary operations on the cash rented land first because the tenant will have.A00 percent interest in that cropencl perhaps only 66 percent interest' in your crop, The advantages of a share-crop arrangement are fairly obvious in that it spreads the risk for the tenant and allows you as landowner to share in higher prices when the markets are good The fOUrth alternative is a cash rent. There 'are several kinds of cash rents.The most obvious is" an agreed sum of payment for the :qarm concerned. This niay be calculated at so much per acre or so much for the entire farm, but the amount does net- vary regardless of the crop or livestock produced. The time and method of payment is negotiated between the landlord and the tenant, and may vary from a once-a-year payment to ,. a once-a-month payrdent depending on the circumstances. The second form of cash rent is a variable cash rent in which the price of the rent depends on the market for the crops. One such rental agreement calls for an annual rent per acre equal, to the price of an agreed number of bushels of corn at an agreed time. In Kent County, this might be the price of 30 bushels of corn based on the selling price at the local elevator the last five trading days in H oVernber, Such a system' spreads sot' e of the risks betWeen landowner and tenant, arid tan be varied according to the prochactiVenes$ w 0‘ of the land being rented, It should be remembered that such a system is a cash rental system, even though the amount of cash rent is not determined until the harvest period. Variations on this system can be made by changing the agreeed number of bushe is or changing the source of det ertnining the price of the crop. In Kent County , the corn crop works very well because it acts as a barometer for most of the other crops. The ' problem of lady landowner$ being "taken in" by own "quick buck" artists happens all too frequently. Sometimes the quick buck artist is a person known to you who , uses his knowledge of, your ignorance to pocket a profit. Examples of this occur all too frequently in the sale of farm woodlots, individual walnut trees, farm machinery or. other farm assets which have increased tremendously in value and this fact is not known by the lady landowner. "We suggest that you make haste slowly in disposing of assets, and that it would be a good idea to ask more farm than one person's opinion when you find it necessary to dispose of an asset, or even a current crop. The special problems encountered by lady landowners are perhaps the penalties for- being unique in the farming business. The business of today is bigger than the worry of whether or not the farm is Owned by a man or a woman. Any good business practice with written agreements . will ensure satisfactory arrangements for any, landlord or " landowner of farmland in Ontario.