What’s In Your Farmland Review?

What do you need to set up and prepare for your Farmland Review?

Start by scheduling your free Farmland Review online or by calling 773-273-8649. You’ll need to answer a few basic questions about your farm. A Tillable representative will reach out to ensure we have all the necessary information for you and to schedule a call. Depending on any additional questions, you can expect the review to last between 15-30 minutes.

What does Tillable do to research your farmland?

We gather publicly available data, review farms we manage near yours, analyze the data, and present our findings and insights on the call. We will email a recap to you after the review to keep for your records. 

Your Farmland Review is presented by one of our in-house farm managers and will include a comprehensive look at your land and provide context for its health and value within the local market. These are the components we check out:

1. Practice Evaluation

We discuss best practices for maintaining soil health and fertility on your farm and the steps you and your farmer can take to protect and maximize your asset’s value.  We discuss the type of data you should track with your farmer, what to collect and when, and why it is necessary.

Tillable Insight: Getting a healthy and fair rent is only part of the equation. If your farmer is taking great care of the farm, but you have no record of that activity, then that activity adds no value to your farm. We explain why capturing your farmer’s activities every year to care for the farm protects the asset’s value, especially if you intend to pass on the farm to an heir or sell it. 

2. Productivity Index Score and County Average Yields 

As part of your Tillable Farmland Review, your farm will receive a productivity index score based on our soil maps, a discussion about your yields, and how both compare to the county average. 

Tillable Insight: The Actual Production History (APH) is a record of an agricultural producer’s crop yields over a multi-year period. Tillable requires that farmers report this information annually on farms we manage. It’s one of the most meaningful measures of your farm’s performance. Transparency is a vital part of fair market pricing, and making this data accessible to all parties should happen before any annual rent negotiation begins. 

3. Rent Evaluation

We will also provide a rent evaluation based on the soil evaluation, crop yields, and comparable local properties. Calculating cash rent can be complicated, and we will explain how we arrived at your custom estimate. 

Tillable Insight: You might rent to a family member or a long-time tenant. It can be easy to justify discounting your land year to year, but you should know how much that discount is costing you. 

4. What if you are interested in selling?

Questions about selling a farm often come up in our farm reviews. If selling is part of your short or long-term goals, we can set up a free market analysis with one of our brokers to help you understand your farm’s worth and best practices to ready the farm for sale.

5. Delivery of your Farmland Review

We discuss all of the above information with you on the call and, after, produce a recap report for you. The report defines the terms and makes it easy to understand your land’s potential fair cash rent value. If you decide selling your farm is something you want to explore, we can set up a free market analysis with one of our brokers.

We also offer a farmland management service where we work with your current farmer (or, if ever needed, help find a new one) to collect the data that documents and demonstrates how they are taking care of the farm and adding value to your asset. You can request a custom quote during your farm review.