Agricultural Land Lease Agreement

Agricultural land lease agreement – a professional template in Word format

An agricultural land lease agreement is concluded where the owner of arable land, a meadow, pasture, orchard, vineyard or olive grove gives the land to another person, a family farm (OPG) or a company for cultivation against rent. In practice such arrangements are still often made orally, and things then come unstuck over the questions of who receives the subsidies, who has to maintain the ditches and tracks and in what condition the land is returned.

Lease is governed by the Obligations Act (Zakon o obveznim odnosima), and certain provisions of the Agricultural Land Act (Zakon o poljoprivrednom zemljistu) also apply to agricultural land, above all the duty to keep the land suitable for agricultural production. The template is intended solely for land in private ownership – the lease of state-owned land follows a separate public tender procedure and this form is not applicable to it.

Key features

• A professional template – 10 articles written for real agricultural practice, from the description of the parcel to the return of the land.
• Practical reliability – it governs ARKOD and subsidies, the ban on subleasing, the duty to cultivate with the care of a prudent manager and notice tied to the growing year.
• Easy customisation – you enter the rent as an annual amount or per hectare, and you choose the duration and the method of payment from the variants offered.
• Digital delivery – the DOCX file with completion instructions arrives by e-mail immediately after purchase.

What the template covers

• The details of the lessor and the lessee, with a variant for a family farm (OPG) or a company as lessee
• A description of the land – the cadastral parcel, the cadastral municipality (k.o.), the area in square metres and hectares, the crop and the land registry folio number
• The purpose of the lease and the ban on changing the crop and on erecting permanent structures without written consent
• The rent as an annual amount or per hectare, payable in a single sum or in two instalments
• A fixed term of lease and the possibility of extension by a written addendum
• The lessee’s obligations – cultivation with the care of a prudent manager, preventing the land becoming overgrown, and maintaining tracks, boundaries and drainage
• An article on ARKOD and subsidies – who registers the land, who submits the applications and deletion from the register when the lease ends
• Return of the land in a properly cultivated condition, with an option to harvest crops falling due after expiry
• Notice with a period tied to the end of the farming year and the grounds for termination without notice
• Handover of the land into possession with the option of a record of its condition

Who is this template intended for

• Landowners who do not cultivate their parcels but want them kept in good order and the rent properly agreed.
• Family farms (OPG) and agricultural sole traders for whom a written agreement is the basis for entry in ARKOD and for obtaining support.
• Heirs and co-owners who lease out inherited land instead of letting it become overgrown.
• Lessees of permanent plantations for whom a long lease term matters because of the return on their investment.

Important. The template applies only to agricultural land in private ownership. The lease of state-owned agricultural land is governed by the Agricultural Land Act (Zakon o poljoprivrednom zemljistu) and is carried out by public tender, so this form is not used for that.

Before signing, check who is actually registered as the owner of the land and whether there are any encumbrances – you can order a current title deed (land registry extract) from us. If instead of a lease the land is being transferred into ownership within the family, see our real estate gift agreement template.