Northeast Iowa Farm Law | Follow the laws or follow the consequences

Can a farm tenant, who is terminated on the lease, sue for damages against the land owner for not being able to make corn stalk bales before fall tillage starts for the operator? Under Iowa Law, as of 1 July 2010 ,unless the parties agree otherwise, the tenant has the right to the property until the lease expires. In a recently decided case, the terminated tenant sued successfully for trespass damages where he had established that prior to the trespass of fall tillage, he was going to make corn stalk bales, even though the lease was enacted before the law change. Because the lease renewed automatically on 1 September 2010, after the law change in 2010, the change in the law was applied to the contract.

The kicker on this is that the tenant only had the lease with the change in the law because he hadn’t been properly terminated on 1 September 2010.The take away from this case is clear, following ag law and its rules is not a task to be tended to right before catching the opening monologue of Jimmy Fallon. The rules are complex, the courts will treat your operation like a business.

About Us

Dillon Law focuses on providing quick response to client's needs with staff who understand the agricultural climate in which we live. This firm is a general practice firm, including but not limited to Agricultural Law, Criminal Law, Debt Collection, Wills/ Probate and Estate Planning, Tax Preparation, Real Estate, Bankruptcy.

Patrick B. Dillon

pat dillon

PATRICK B. DILLON

Patrick B. Dillon enjoys finding solutions to legal issues and catching problems for clients. Pat practices in the Sumner office regularly represents clients in district, associate district and magistrate courts for agricultural, real estate, criminal and collection issues. He drafts wills and trusts, creates estate plans and helps clients through the probate process.

Jill Dillon

Jill Dillon profile 3 2024

JILL DILLON

Jill is a University of Northern Iowa undergraduate (Political Science Cum Laude) and a Drake University Law School graduate. Jill is a firm owner but not currently accepting private pay clients. Jill still has ties to her family farm operation which includes a dairy herd.

Tori Beyer

Tori Beyer - profile 2024

TORI BEYER

Tori is a University of Iowa undergraduate where she double majored in Criminology, Justice, and Law and Ethics and Public Policy and a North Dakota Law School graduate. Tori practices in the Sumner office. Tori's areas of practice include but are not limited to estate planning, wills/probate, criminal defense, and civil litigation.

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