Blogs by Mollie Aronowitz, AFM

Discover how farmland investments generate returns through cash yield, appreciation, leverage, and crop yield. Insights from Peoples Company’s financial modeling.

Discover the true potential of your farmland with a free assessment from Peoples Company. Get expert insights on soil, topography, market values, and more—plus a complimentary 30-minute consultation.

Historically, a traditional handshake agreement would have leased a farm for the coming year. But as more acres are leased, and landowners move further from the farm - both physically and generationally - the need for written agreements has grown. Today’s effective farm management depends not just on strong leases, but on strong relationships. And those relationships are built through clear, consistent, and proactive communication.

Peoples Company enrolls all managed acres in the Leading Harvest Farmland Management Standard, a comprehensive and adaptable framework applicable to all crop types and regions across the United States.

It is mud season for many of us across the country. That time of year where winter is coming to an end and warmer temperatures are more consistent. The ground thawing and snow melting combined with spring rains creates a muddy, slippery environment.

Finding opportunities to maximize production on each farm while also protecting valuable natural resources is the core business of Peoples Company’s Land Management Team. What makes our work especially rewarding and challenging is that there is no simple solution to guarantee success. Even when a landowner and tenant farmer both want what is best for the farm, they may not see eye to eye on how to get there.

In early April, I had the opportunity to join Peoples Company Delta Land Manager Julie Boggs and our 2024 Leading Harvest auditing team on managed farms in northern Louisiana.

I have worked with a variety of non-profit organizations, education institutions, and federal partners over the past 10 years in the farmland conservation space. Our vocabulary has changed over time, but the intent has remained constant: we work to leave the land better than how we found it.