Retired farming landlords depend on rental income
Dear Editor:

While it is important to lift up the challenges that farmers face these days with low prices, it is equally important to remember the challenges they present to landowners who were former farmers and depend on rents from their land for their livelihood/living.

As a family, we farmed land near Rushmore [Minn.]. My dad died at almost 92 in August. None of his children have chosen to farm, and he rented his small farm for the last many years. He handed over the “set the rent” responsibilities to me a couple of years ago.

My mom is in a nursing home right now — and she depends on the rent from the land to pay for that extremely high health care burden. Trade tariffs and other political decisions are my problem as I figure out rent for the 2019 season. My renter will complain about the high cost of inputs, the yields of the last year’s harvest, unfair buffer zones around the waterways, high health care costs, etc.

I’ll be expected to reduce the rent — while knowing the burden of costs related to nursing care for Mom and the rest of our family.

For the big farmers, that’s not as much of a challenge given the sizable acreages they rent. That’s not our case.

Thanks for your good work and the magazine you produce monthly. It was one of Dad’s favorites!

Don Taylor,
Minneapolis

Thank you for MCIA award sponsorship
Dear Paula:

On behalf of board chairman Kurt Flegel and members of the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association, we greatly appreciate your support for our 2019 annual meeting by providing and presenting the Achievement in Crop Improvement Award.

The membership always looks forward to the award as we work to make sure it is a surprise to the award winner. Everyone looks forward to finding out who is honored for the current year. Jim Falk was extremely pleased to win the award this year.

As you know, this event brings seed producers and professionals from related industries to a common place to network and exchange ideas. We hope that in addition to presenting the award, you were able to make some good contacts at the meeting and enjoyed visiting with those in attendance.

Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to working with you again in the future.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Sincerely,
Fawad Shah,
MCIA president and CEO