South Dakota has a few wrinkles in their laws that are unlike Nebraska’s laws regarding the lease of agricultural land.  What do you need to know?

1. South Dakota does permit oral leases, but those leases are only year-to-year leases.  South Dakota does not permit an oral multi-year lease.
2. If there is no contract or usage to the contrary, rent is payable yearly at the end of each year.
3. If your oral lease is for forty acres or more, special provisions apply to terminate the lease.  A landlord must give written notice on or before September 1 to terminate the lease or it is renewed automatically.  If notice is given on or before September 1, the lease terminates on March 1.  This is applicable to tenants leasing crop land and grassland, either native or tame.
4. If you have a written lease, the above provisions regarding notice to terminate are not applicable.  The termination provision(s) in your written lease determine how and when the lease is terminated.
5. If you are seeking a multi-year lease, it must be in writing.  Keep in mind that any lease for agricultural or wildland may not exceed twenty years.

The takeaways from above?  While oral leases are permitted in South Dakota, it is only on a year-to-year basis.  Further, if more than 40 acres is leased, notice to terminate the lease must be given prior to September 1st.  Written leases are preferred in the law, although a lease for agricultural land may not last longer than twenty years.