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A G R IC UL T UR AL
N E W S LETTER
Vol. II

Dallas, Texas, March 15, 1947

AN IMPROVED FARM LEASE
CONTRACT
Recent changed conditions in agriculture
have emphasized the need for an improved
type of rental agreement and contract be­
tween landlords and tenants. The traditional
one-year verbal lease has contributed to the
establishment of many poor farming prac­
tices and complicates adjustments of agricul­
ture to changing economic conditions. In re­
cent years considerable progress has been
made in developing a long-term written lease
which overcomes some of the weaknesses of
the verbal lease and covers many of the land­
lord-tenant relationships arising in the pres­
ent period of agricultural adjustment.
When corn was grown primarily to feed
the livestock on the grower’s farm and cot­
ton, as the single cash crop, dominated the
agricultural economy of the Southwest, the
third-and-fourth crop rental arrangement
was generally satisfactory. Such an arrange­
ment divides the risks of farming between
landlord and tenant and permits both parties
of the contract to share in the profits. The
terms of such a contract are generally well
established by custom, court decisions, and
laws, and yet they possess sufficient flexibility
to permit some adjustments in line with
changing economic conditions. This arrange­
ment, however, has several inherent disadvan­
tages. First, since the contract is of a verbal
nature, disagreements as to details frequently
arise. Second, because the contract generally
extends for a period of only one year, it does
not assure sufficient continuity of operation
to either landlord or tenant to permit the
establishment of livestock programs, orchards,
or other enterprises whose production cycle

Number 3

runs for a greater length of time or to en­
courage the establishment and completion of
a coordinated program of soil conservation
and improvement. Such rental arrangements
have contributed to the perpetuation of a sin­
gle-crop system and to a neglect of farm land
and buildings.
The disadvantages of the customary con­
tract have been further emphasized by recent
agricultural changes. In the past several years,
and particularly during the war period, shifts
in land utilization in the Southwest have
occurred as farmers diversified their produc­
tion operations. It has been found desirable
to include dairy, poultry, and other livestock
enterprises in the production pattern of many
former cotton and grain farms. Successful
operation of such enterprises requires a more
permanent establishment of the operator than
is provided in a year-to-year lease. New crops
such as peanuts, fruits, and vegetables are
now produced on many farms, requiring new
arrangements regarding the division of re­
turns. A growing realization of the need of
conservation and rebuilding of the soil has
led to the establishment of long-range con­
servation programs on many farms, but sta­
bility of tenancy and increased diversification
of farm operations are necessary if such pro­
grams are to succeed. Tenants not only must
be encouraged to make soil conserving prac­
tices a part of their farming operations but
also must be assured that they will be able to
reap the benefits to be derived from such
practices. More machines and equipment are
now required for efficient operation, but ten­
ants Will generally be slow to acquire such
machines if they are faced with the problem
of moving each year. Machines adapted to
one farm may not be suitable to the next
farm that the tenant may occupy.

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AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

Under these changed conditions, year-toyear rental arrangements are less satisfactory
than in earlier times, and landowners and ten­
ants have attempted to find a better form of
contract. A written long-term lease may aid
in solving the problem. Joe R. Motheral in a
recent Progress Report released by the Agri­
cultural and Mechanical College of Texas, en­
titled Notice of Termination, A Farm Lease
Problem in Texas, suggests that such a lease
may provide the security that both tenants
and landlords must have in order to develop
profitable livestock enterprises and to encour­
age maintenance of improvements and soil
resources. Considerable progress has been
made by some individuals and government
agencies in the use of such leases. Though
granting that in some cases this type of
arrangement may not be feasible, Mr. Moth­
eral believes that where a long-term lease is
not objectionable to either of the contracting
parties, it offers definite advantages and will
do much toward overcoming some of the
weaknesses of the customary one-year lease.
At the request of numerous landowners,
tenants, and agricultural workers in Texas, a
committee representing the Texas Extension
Service, the School of Agriculture, and the
Agricultural Experiment Station of Texas
A. & M. College has prepared a general farm
lease form, believed to be adaptable to any
type and size of farm in any section of the
Southwest. In its work the committee had
the benefit of suggestions and criticisms of
an advisory group representing landlords and
tenants and various private and governmental
agencies in the State. The committee was
guided also by the following special objec­
tives in the preparation of this lease form:
1. To produce a sim plified lease form
which would not require redrafting or
copying.
2. To develop a form usable in all rental
arrangements for all types of crop and
livestock enterprises.
3. To foster stability and security by pro­
viding a lease form covering major ques­
tions which arise in the landlord-tenant
relationship, so that agreement may be
reached on these when the lease is made.

4. To provide for definite attention to con­
servation and other sound agricultural
practices.
5. To give information on some of the
more important current arrangements
as regards contributions and divisions o f
income between landlords and tenants
in principal livestock and crop enter­
prises.
This Texas general farm lease form sets
forth all the requirements thought to be nec­
essary to protect the rights of both landlord
and tenants and in such a way as to forestall
disagreements or to hold them to a minimum.
The parties may include in their contract as
many of the provisions of the lease form as
they see fit or can agree upon. The form pro ­
vides two options regarding the time covered
by the lease. The lease may begin and end on
fixed dates, or it may run for one year and
be renewed automatically from year to year
if neither party gives written notice of te r­
mination within a stated period prior to the
end of any contract year. A cash-rent agree­
ment may be designated for all or any portion
of the farm, or a share-rent arrangement for
both crops and livestock may be chosen. P ro ­
vision is made on the form also for a state­
ment of what each party is to furnish and o f
the division of returns. The more common
practices from which choice may be made re­
garding the contributions and returns of each
party are enumerated in the suggestions for
use of the form. Space is provided for listing
the rights reserved by the landlord and those
granted to the tenant regarding the use o f
pasture, garden plots, woodlots, and hunting
and fishing. Conservation and other improved
farm practices to be undertaken on the farm
may be written into the contract, together
with the contribution to be made by each
party to the carrying out of the practices and
the division between the parties of Govern­
ment payments for fulfilment of the pro ­
gram. Improvements and repairs to be under­
taken by each party may be listed and fully
described. Other provisions which may be in ­
cluded in the contract relate to the keeping o f
records, partnerships, assignments, the right
of entry, breach of contract, and arbitration.

AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER
Copies of this form, together with sugges­
tions for its use, may be secured upon request
to J. Wheeler Barger, Head, Department of
Agricultural Economics, School of Agricul­
ture, Texas A. & M. College, College Station,
or from the local county agent.

FARM PRICES
New Price. Programs
The Secretary o f A griculture has an­
nounced that chickens (except those of less
than 3 /z pounds liveweight and broilers)
and turkeys of the 1947 crop purchased in
the period of October 1947 through January
1948 and those of the 1948 crop purchased
in the period of October through December
1948 will be supported at 90 per cent of par­
ity, or possibly at higher prices to be an­
nounced from time to time. Currently, sup­
port prices reflect a United States average
liveweight farm price for poultry of 18.3
cents a pound and for turkeys of 20.3 cents
a pound, with variations for type, weight,
and location.
Eggs are being supported by government
purchases at prices that for frozen shell eggs
average not less than 33 cents a dozen to pro­
ducers. This program supplements the dried
egg buying program for export to the United
Kingdom. Packed in new containers holding
30 pounds each, the frozen eggs will be held
for future drying prior to foreign shipment
or other disposal outside domestic markets.
The Department of Agriculture is reported
to be considering steps to support sagging
whole milk prices and has taken what may
prove to be the first step in this direction by
authorizing the purchase of dry milk powder.
The Dairy Products Marketing Association of
Chicago was authorized during the last week
in February to purchase up to five million
pounds of dry milk powder at not more than
nine to 10 cents per pound.
The A griculture D epartm ent has an­
nounced that the 1947 flax support program
will be operated by loans, contracts with
processors on specified price agreements, and
CCC purchases of flaxseed if necessary. Grade
1 flaxseed are set at a base price of $5.80 per

3

bushel at Texas marts. Number 2 grade will
be supported at five cents less per bushel than
Number 1. Grades lower than these will have
no support.
The Secretary of Agriculture has ordered
the subsidy on exported cotton reduced from
four cents to two cents per pound, gross
unpatched weight. The new ruling became
effective February 13.

FARM MANAGEMENT
Forage Crops for Hogs Reduce Cost
of Production
More pork at less cost may be produced
by most farmers if the grain ration of hogs
is supplemented by adequate green forage,
according to a recent report of the Missis­
sippi Agricultural Experiment Station. Fail­
ure to provide pasture adequate to furnish
sufficient green forage generally results in
small litters of low vitality and in more ex­
pensive production of pork. Green grass will
help to reduce the cost of needed proteins,
minerals, and vitamins and will aid to some
extent in lowering the carbohydrate feed re­
quirement per unit of grain. Cultivated graz­
ing lots are also a big factor in controlling
parasites and diseases.
Feeding results with hogs at the Mississippi
Station and elsewhere indicate that a onepound gain in weight can be expected from
feeding five pounds of grain alone in a dry
feed lot. Grain fed to hogs on forage, how­
ever, will produce about one pound o f gain
for every four pounds of grain fed. Soybeans,
oats, sudan, or any green forage which pigs
or hogs will eat readily may be used. The
addition of a protein supplement to the ration
will result in even more rapid daily gains.
In the experiments it was also found that
when the ration of grain fed to hogs is lim­
ited and a green pasture is furnished them,
more forage will be eaten and less grain re­
quired per unit of gain. The rate of gain,
however, is less rapid than if full grain ration
is fed and pasture provided. The limited grain
ration is said to provide possible economies
when used with pigs farrowed in late fall and
early spring.

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AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

In experiments to test this possibility two
lots of ten feeder pigs each were fed a mix­
ture of 90 pounds of ground oats and five
pounds each of cottonseed meal and tankage
for a period of 90 days. Both lots were
allowed to graze on sweet sudan grass, but
each pig in the first lot was fed a limited
ration of 1.9 pounds of the feeding mixture
per day, while the second lot were given 5.6
pounds of the mixture per head. The pigs of
the first lot, which were on the limited ration,
gained an average of 0.53 of a pound daily
and consumed 363 pounds of feed per hun­
dred pounds of gain. Those of the second lot,
receiving a full ration of grain, showed an
average gain of 1.08 pounds daily, but con­
sumed 523 pounds of feed per hundred
pounds of gain. A t the end of the test the
pigs on the limited ration were said to be in
a growthy, thrifty condition. While the pigs
of this lot had gained less weight, the cost per
unit of gain was 30 per cent less than the
cost recorded for the pigs on full rations.

TECHNOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENTS
Cotton and Cottonseed Treatments
Several new preparations of interest to cot­
ton growers are now being produced. Two
chemical dust treatments applied to cotton­
seed prior to planting will help to control
seed-borne organisms and protect the planted
cottonseed prior to germination from attacks
by soil-inhabitating organisms. One of these
is known as DuBay 1452-F, and the other as
Dow 9-B. Each is used at a rate of 1.5 ounces
per 30 pounds of seed. DuBay 1452-F will
not be commercially available until the latter
part of 1947, but the current supply of Dow
9-B is said to be plentiful.
For combatting boll weevils, aphids, bollworms, and flea hoppers, two new insecticides
will be on the market this spring, according
to an announcement by W. S. McGregor,
Extension Entomologist for Louisiana State
University. These new materials are benzenehexachloride, which will be known generally
as BHC, and toxaphene, which is a chlorin­
ated camphene. Mr. McGregor says these in­
secticides show more promise of being the

complete poison for cotton insects than any
previously produced. They can be applied by
airplane or ground dusters. They were devel­
oped by commercial insecticide companies but
have been tested and approved by entomol­
ogists of Louisiana State University and o f the
United States Department of Agriculture.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Cotton Ginners Meet
The Texas Cooperative Ginners’ Associa­
tion will hold its annual meeting in Dallas at
the Adolphus Hotel, April 7 and 8.
The Texas Cotton Ginners Convention will
be held in Dallas at Fair Park, April 9 to 11,
with the Gin Machinery & Supply Associa­
tion as host to the convention.
National Brahma Show
The second Annual National Brahma Show
is scheduled to be held on the Campus of
Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge,
March 22-28. More than 300 of the humpedback animals will be assembled in the agricul­
tural coliseum from all the southern states
from Texas to the Carolinas.
Recent Publications
A gricu ltu ral Experim ent Station o f the
New Mexico College of Agriculture and
Mechanic Arts, State College:
Corrective Sheep Breeding, Bulletin 334,
by P. E. Neale.
Oklahoma A. & M. College, Stillwater:
Science Serving Agriculture, Parts I and II,
Biennial Report of the Oklahoma A gricul­
tural Experiment Station, July 1, 1944, to
June 30, 1946.
Texas A gricultu ral Experim ent Statio n ,
Texas A. & M. College, College Station:
C itrus O rcharding in the Lou/er R io
Grande Valley of Texas, by W. H. Friend.
Commercial Fertilizers in 1945-46, by J . F.
Fudge and T. L. Ogier.
Mineral Rights and Land Prices, Smith
County, Texas, Progress Report 1052, by Joe
Mother al.
Nitrogen Fertilizers for Rice, Progress R e­
port 105 5, by R. H. Wyche.
Copies of these bulletins may be secured by
request to their respective publishers.