Rent Calculator for Land Owners
A straightforward tool for Kentucky farmland owners to understand what their ground produces in a typical year, and how common rent figures compare to long-run research benchmarks from land-grant universities across the Midwest.
Young Farm
High-Tech, High-Productivity, and High-Return Farming
Rent Calculator for Land Owners
Productivity level
Pick the category that best describes your ground, or enter your own yields below. Defaults reflect average-productivity soils in the Pennyrile region of western Kentucky.
Crop mix
Pick a common rotation or set your own percentages. The three values should add to 100%.
Current grain prices ($/bu)
Defaults reflect Kentucky elevator bids as of early 2026. Cash prices move daily — adjust these to match what you'd realistically expect to receive over the term of a lease.
Annual cash rent ($/ac)
Enter the annual per-acre rent under discussion. This is for a straight cash lease where the landowner pays no production expenses — not a crop-share arrangement.
Other Factors to Consider
Rent as a percentage of gross revenue is one useful way to think about whether a lease is sustainable, but it's not the only factor. A fair rent reflects the specific ground, the specific arrangement, and the relationship between owner and operator.
High-CSR ground deserves a premium over marginal soils. NRCS soil survey data and historical yield records are a better indicator than neighborhood averages.
Tiled fields, good drainage, and clean field boundaries support higher rents. Wet spots, erosion issues, or heavy weed pressure justifiably reduce what an operator can pay.
Does the operator apply lime and P/K at recommended rates? Maintain waterways, field entrances, and drainage structures? These cost money and shift the true value of the arrangement.
Multi-year leases let the operator invest in lime, soil health, and drainage with confidence. Year-to-year leases discourage long-term stewardship and usually price lower as a result.
A careful, transparent operator who shares yield maps, soil tests, and input records is protecting your asset. That's real value that doesn't show up in a percentage-of-gross calculation.
Boom years can support higher rents; lean years can't. A sustainable rent is one the operator can pay across the full commodity cycle — not just at the top of it.
This is a reference, not a verdict. Every farm is different, and a fair rent on your ground may sit comfortably outside this range for reasons that have nothing to do with the math. Use this tool as one input to a conversation with your operator, not as a bottom-line answer. If you'd like to discuss what your ground might reasonably produce under careful, transparent management, get in touch with the Young family.