How to Complete the Iowa Cash Rent Farm Lease Short Form

The Iowa Cash Rent Farm Lease Short Form is a three-page fillable PDF (publication FM 1874 / C2-16) published by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, and you complete it by entering the property description, lease term, rent and payment schedule, expense splits, and default terms in the blanks provided, then signing with the other party. The form was last revised in July 2016 and its provisions track Iowa Code Chapter 562, which governs farm tenancies.¹ You can type directly into the PDF or print it blank and fill it in by hand.

Where to Download It

The form lives on ISU Extension’s Ag Decision Maker website under the identifier C2-16. You can type your lease terms into the PDF fields and print the completed version, or print blank copies to fill out by hand. Both approaches produce a valid lease as long as the signatures are original (or validly electronic, discussed below).

What to Pull Together Before You Start

Fill-in-the-blank forms stall out when you sit down without the facts. Before opening the PDF, gather:

The legal description of the property. Iowa farmland is identified under the Public Land Survey System using township, range, and section numbers, not a mailing address. Pull it from the deed or county assessor records. A quarter section is 160 acres, a half section is 320, and a full section is 640, which helps you verify the acreage matches what you intend to lease.²
FSA contract acres. The form asks for the number of contract acres on county Farm Service Agency records (FSA Form 578). Contact your local FSA office or log into your farmers.gov account to get this number.
A list of structures. The form has a table where you list each building or storage structure the operator may use and its purpose. Walk the property or review aerial photos so you can describe bins, barns, machine sheds, and any housing accurately.
Lime history. Paragraph 7 asks how lime and application costs will be handled. If the landlord applied lime before the lease starts, decide whether the tenant will reimburse a share or whether the cost is already built into the rent.

Working Through the Blanks

The header asks for the lease year and the names of the owner(s) and operator(s). Use full legal names. For an entity like an LLC or trust, write the entity name and identify the person signing on its behalf.

Legal Description and Term (Paragraphs 1 and 2)

Paragraph 1 is a blank space for the legal description. Copy it exactly from the deed, including township, range, section, and any quarter-section designations. Paragraph 2 sets the term, which begins on March 1 of the starting year.³ Iowa Code 562.5 requires that any farm tenancy termination take effect on March 1, so leases naturally run from March 1 through the last day of February.⁴ You fill in the number of years for the initial term. One year is standard for cash rent arrangements.

Rent and Payment Schedule (Paragraph 4)

Paragraph 4 contains a table with rows for cropland, hay land, pasture, and building rent. For each category, enter the number of acres, the per-acre rate, and the total. Below the table, three rows let you split the total annual rent into installments with specific due dates. Two payments (one in the spring and one after harvest) is a common structure, but any schedule the parties agree to works. The form also asks for the address where rent should be mailed or delivered.

USDA Payments (Paragraph 5)

Paragraph 5 addresses USDA commodity program payments and defaults them to the operator unless the parties file a different arrangement with FSA.³ Be aware that cash rent tenants face extra scrutiny from FSA: to qualify for ARC or PLC payments, the tenant must demonstrate a significant contribution of equipment along with active personal labor or management. If the tenant does not meet the test, FSA applies a cropland factor that reduces payments across the tenant’s entire operation.⁵

Conservation compliance also matters. Both landlord and tenant must certify on USDA Form AD-1026 that the operation meets Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation standards.⁶ If one party refuses to allow compliance, the other can qualify for an exemption by filing AD-1026B (tenant) or AD-1026C (landlord).

Expense Division and Operator Duties (Paragraphs 7, 8, 10)

Paragraph 7 assigns all crop production expenses to the operator and provides a blank for how lime costs are shared. Paragraph 8 prohibits the operator from incurring expenses on the owner’s behalf without written permission and requires the operator to indemnify the owner against mechanic’s liens.³ Paragraph 10 lists the operator’s duties: running the farming operation, controlling weeds and brush, maintaining terraces, waterways, and tile lines, and surrendering possession when the lease ends. It also requires the operator to give the owner an annual report by December 15 with fertilizer, lime, and pesticide records plus yield information for harvested crops.

Default, Cure Period, and Interest (Paragraph 17)

Paragraph 17 has two blanks. The first sets the cure period, meaning the number of days the defaulting party has to fix the problem. Thirty days is common. The second sets the annual interest rate on unpaid rent. If the lease terminates because the operator failed to pay, the form adds the owner’s collection costs and attorney fees to what the operator owes. Pick a cure period long enough to resolve honest mistakes but short enough to keep a nonpaying tenant from dragging things out.

Additional Terms (Paragraph 18)

Paragraph 18 is a blank space for anything the parties want to add: adjustments for tile drainage improvements, restrictions on chemicals near waterways, permission to graze livestock after harvest, hunting rights, or any specialized infrastructure arrangements. Leave it blank and only the printed terms apply.

Pre-Printed Terms You Are Still Bound By

Several provisions on the form require no entry but bind both parties. These get overlooked because the eye goes to the blanks.

No Subletting Without Written Consent

The form prohibits the operator from subletting the property or assigning the lease without the owner’s written consent. An operator who brings in a partner or lets a neighbor farm part of the acreage without permission risks breaching the lease.

Good Husbandry

The operator agrees to farm the land using sound agricultural practices. Under Iowa common law, a tenant has a duty not to waste leased property, meaning the operator cannot cause permanent or substantial damage to soil or structures. The form reinforces this with the terrace, waterway, and tile maintenance requirements in Paragraph 10.

No Hunting or Recreational Use

Paragraph 6 bars hunting and other recreational use without the owner’s written consent.³ If the owner wants to reserve those rights or grant them to a third party, spell it out in Paragraph 18.

Landlord’s Lien on the Crops

The form states that the operator acknowledges Iowa’s statutory landlord’s lien and grants the owner a security interest in all growing or mature crops under the Iowa Uniform Commercial Code.³ If the operator stops paying rent, the owner has a legal claim on the crops ahead of competing creditors.

Repair Split

Paragraph 9 divides upkeep. For minor building and fence repairs, the owner supplies materials and the operator provides free labor. For new fencing, the owner furnishes all materials and pays half the labor, while the operator provides half the labor and all the equipment. The owner covers the full cost of clearing fence rows. If the property has specialized infrastructure such as a feedlot or irrigation system, add specific terms in Paragraph 18.

Signing the Form

Both the owner and operator sign the last page, along with their spouses or co-operators if applicable. Separate signature blocks are provided for business entities, with a line for the entity name and the representative signing on its behalf. Both parties also fill in addresses and phone numbers below their signatures.

The form includes an optional notarization block. You only need a notary if you plan to record the lease, because county recording offices require notarized signatures to accept a document. Iowa has adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act under Iowa Code Chapter 554D, which gives electronic signatures the same legal force as ink signatures for most transactions, including leases.⁷ If you sign electronically, keep a record of the electronic signature that can be accurately reproduced later, as the statute requires.

When to Record the Lease

Iowa Code 558.44 requires recording any agricultural land lease that exceeds five years (including renewals) with the county recorder within 180 days of the lease date. Missing that deadline carries a fine of up to $100 per day of violation.⁸ For leases of five years or less, recording is optional. A recorded lease gives public notice of the tenant’s interest and protects against claims from future buyers, lenders, or other creditors.

The base recording fee is $5 per page under Iowa Code 331.604.⁹ Most counties add a $1 record management fee and a $1 e-commerce fee per transaction, bringing the cost to about $7 per page for a standard three-page lease. Confirm payment methods with the county recorder, since some require checks or exact change.

The September 1 Deadline That Catches People

This is the single most important thing to understand about an Iowa farm lease. Under Iowa Code 562.6, a farm tenancy automatically continues for the next crop year on the same terms unless one party sends proper written termination notice.⁴ The lease does not simply expire when the written term ends. It rolls over unless someone actively stops it. The one built-in exception is that the lease will not auto-renew if the tenant is in default.

To stop automatic renewal, either party must serve written termination notice on or before September 1, with the termination taking effect the following March 1. Miss that date and you are locked in for another full year.

How to Serve the Notice

Iowa Code 562.7 provides three acceptable methods, and courts enforce them strictly:¹⁰

Hand delivery with signed acceptance. Deliver the written notice on or before September 1 and have the other party (or their successor) sign an acceptance of service.
Personal service or publication. Serve the notice personally on or before September 1. If personal service is attempted and fails, you can serve by publication under the same rules that apply to original notices in court proceedings.
Certified mail. Mail the notice before September 1 by certified mail to the other party’s last known mailing address. Service is complete when you deposit the sealed, properly addressed, postage-paid envelope in a U.S. Postal Service receptacle.

Certified mail is the method most parties use. The statute says “certified mail,” not regular mail. Iowa courts have held that a termination notice sent by ordinary first-class mail is insufficient even if the recipient admits receiving it.¹¹ A return receipt is not required by statute, but requesting one gives you proof of mailing if service is later disputed.

A Note on Tax Reporting

Cash rent paid for farmland is taxable income to the landlord. For payments made on or after January 1, 2026, the federal reporting threshold for Form 1099-MISC rose from $600 to $2,000. A tenant who pays $2,000 or more in rent during the tax year must issue a 1099-MISC to the landlord and file a copy with the IRS. Rent below that threshold is still taxable income to the landlord; the threshold only governs the tenant’s filing obligation.

Landlords who do not materially participate in the farming operation generally report cash rent on Schedule E rather than Schedule F. Rent on Schedule E typically is not subject to self-employment tax; rent on Schedule F is. Material participation depends on actual involvement in management decisions, not just ownership.

1
Ag Decision Maker. Iowa Cash Rent Farm Lease Short Form
2
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Iowa Farmland Legal Descriptions
3
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Iowa Cash Rent Farm Lease Short Form
4
Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 562 – Owner-Lessor and Tenant-Lessee
5
Farm Service Agency. Cash-Rent Tenant
6
Farmers.gov. Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification
7
Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 554D – Electronic Transactions
8
Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 558.44 – Mandatory Recordation of Conveyances and Leases of Agricultural Land
9
Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 331.604 – Recording and Filing Fees
10
Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 562.7 – Notice – How and When Served
11
Iowa General Assembly. Farm Tenancies