Sharecropping contract: working a farm that is not yours

Sharecropping is the age-old arrangement: you work someone else’s farm and you split the harvest. The problem this Act came to fix is stated in its own statement of motives: because the deal was made “on a given word,” the sharecropper could not seek loans, incentives or subsidies in their own name — it all had to go through the owner, who holds the title. The Act changes that, but sets one condition you cannot skip: the arrangement must be in writing and it must be filed.

The Article 2(a) definition governs, and it has three parts. One: you must be a natural person — not a corporation. Two: you work an agricultural farm that is not your property. Three, and here is the key: you do so “under a written contract with the owner of the property in which a share in the benefits, fruits or profits of the crop is stipulated.” If the deal is by word of mouth, under the letter of this Act you are not a sharecropper for these purposes, however many years you have worked that land. The good news is that “agricultural farm” is broader than people assume: the tilling, cultivation and harvesting of any product of the plant kingdom, the livestock industries in all their branches, beekeeping, poultry, and also freshwater or sea fishing and aquaculture.

• Be a natural person who works an agricultural farm that is not their property.Verified against the official source
• Have a written contract with the owner of the property stipulating a share in the benefits, fruits or profits of the crop.Verified against the official source
• That the contract clearly state the form or proportion in which the fruits or profits will be divided.Verified against the official source
• That the contract term never be less than one (1) year.Verified against the official source
• Present the contract to the Department of Agriculture for inscription in the Registry of Sharecropping Contracts within thirty (30) days.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Put it in writing, even after years on a handshake

   This comes first because without it nothing else follows. Article 2(a) defines the sharecropper as one who works another’s farm “under a written contract with the owner of the property.” The whole Act hangs on that. The statement of motives explains why: when the deal “was made on a given word, it has brought great disputes between the parties,” and that is why the system faded. If your arrangement is verbal, the first step is not going to the Department: it is sitting down with the owner and writing it out.

2. 2

   Step 2: Ask for the model contract, do not invent one

   You do not have to draft it from scratch or pay anyone for a template. Article 3 closes by saying: “The Secretary of Agriculture is empowered to design and distribute model or form sharecropping contracts for use by interested parties.” Ask for it at the Department of Agriculture. We do not publish the form because the Act does not reproduce it, and we do not invent it.

3. 3

   Step 3: What the contract must say, and how long it must run

   Two concrete requirements, both in Article 3. The first: the contract “must clearly state the form or proportion in which the fruits or profits are to be divided.” That is the heart of the deal and the Act will not accept it left vague. The second: “This contract shall run for the term the parties agree, but never less than one year, and shall be subject to the renewal the parties agree.” Less than a year does not qualify. The long term is in your favour: a planting needs a full cycle.

4. 4

   Step 4: File it, and you pay nothing to do so

   Article 4 creates the Registry of Sharecropping Contracts at the Department of Agriculture, and Article 3 says when to bring it: “The grant and renewal of the sharecropping contract must be presented for inscription within thirty (30) days formalised, in the registry created later in this Act.” We copy the sentence exactly as the compilation has it and tell you frankly that a word is missing — it reads as “within thirty (30) days OF being formalised”; the only sensible reading is thirty days from signing, and that is how we give it to you, with the caution to confirm the count with the Department. What is perfectly clear is the last line: “The presentation and inscription of the sharecropping contract shall be free of charge.” It costs nothing.

5. 5

   Step 5: What it is for: claiming in your name, not the owner’s

   Article 1 is the reason for all of it: “The sharecropper who works an agricultural farm is granted the right, under the conditions set out below, to participate in and receive benefits from the applicable agricultural programmes in force.” The statement of motives spells out what that solves: without a contract, the sharecropper “cannot take loans from the Agricultural Credit Corporation even though that agency is empowered by law to lend to small farmers with very little or no collateral,” nor benefit “from the incentive programmes, the wage supplement or the price subsidies,” because “all these dealings must be done through the owner of the land.” An honest caution: Article 2(c) defines the applicable programmes generically and names none, so we give you no list of specific programmes, and we did not read the regulation under Article 5.

6. 6

   Step 6: If it is not renewed, the standing crop is still partly yours

   Worth knowing before you sign, because it is the most practical protection in the text. Article 3 provides: “If the contract is not renewed, the fruits pending harvest shall be gathered in due time and distributed between the parties as stipulated in the contract.” The term ending does not mean you lose what is planted and not yet gathered: it is gathered in its time and split according to the proportion you put in writing. One more reason for that proportion to be clear on paper.

At the Department of Agriculture, where Article 4 creates the Registry of Sharecropping Contracts. The same article empowers the Secretary to “establish the district or local offices where the Registry books are to be kept,” so ask for the office covering your area. The Act publishes no address, telephone or form, and we do not invent them.

• Carrying on by word of mouth: the Act defines the sharecropper as one working under a written contract, so without paper it does not apply.
• Leaving the split as “the usual”: the contract must clearly state the form or proportion in which fruits or profits are divided.
• Signing for less than a year: the Act requires the term never be less than one year.
• Signing and keeping it at home: the grant and the renewal must be presented for inscription in the Registry within thirty days.
• Not filing the renewal: the Act treats it like the grant and it must be presented too.
• Believing inscription costs money: presentation and inscription is free of charge.
• Thinking it only covers planting: the definition of agricultural farm includes livestock industries, beekeeping, poultry, fishing and aquaculture.
• Assuming non-renewal loses you the crop: fruits pending harvest are gathered in due time and split under the contract.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Agricultura de Puerto Rico

  Agricultura

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov