NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

April 22, 1999

NDSU Offers Guide to Sheep Lease and Rental Agreements

Lease and rental agreements for sheep are giving farmers and investors new opportunities for getting into the sheep business.

To help investors and producers arrive at an equitable lease agreement the North Dakota State University Extension Service recently released a new circular, Sheep on Shares (EC-1168). The circular provides a suggested mechanism for both parties to determine their contribution to the business and their fair share of the profits. Sheep on Shares discusses several issues related to lease agreements and provides worksheets for the parties to use in figuring a lease.

"The sheep industry is undergoing major fundamental structural changes," says Dan Nudell, a researcher at NDSU's Hettinger Research Extension Center and one of the authors of the bulletin. "There are predictions that expanded sheep production will move into the farm belt of the upper great plains. As this happens, the potential exists for new producers to enter the business."

Nudell says one of the entry methods may be to use leased or rented ewes. Investors are expressing interest in owning sheep, and working ranchers are looking for alternative ways to finance sheep flock expansion. A sheep lease arrangement may provide a vehicle for investors and working ranchers to each capture some of the economic benefits of a sheep flock.

The full text of the NDSU bulletin and a computer software program to help producers calculate leases is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/hettinge/ The bulletin is also available from your local county agent or the Hettinger Research and Extension Center, Box 1377, Hettinger, ND 58639. For more information contact Dan Nudell at 701-567-4323 or email at dnudell@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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Source: Dan Nudell (701) 567-4323

Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629