Quiet Title and Termination of (Purported) Ag Lease

Pacho Limited Partnership v. Eureka Energy Co. (Sept. 8, 2025) (2025 Cal.App. LEXIS 56)

​The trial court ruled a long-term lease for 99 years of approximately 2,400 acres was for agricultural purposes (Civ. Code, § 717) and thus was limited to 51 years and had expired. 

The land was unimproved and had been used continuously for minimal cattle grazing but the lease itself stated that it could be used for any lawful purpose.
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The Court of Appeal reversed, holding the parties’ intent was primarily determined from the lessee’s actual use of the land because the lease did not specify the purposes for which the land could be used. Cattle grazing was the actual use of the property and could be agricultural, but the Court of Appeal concluded that the property was not leased for agricultural purposes because the small cattle-grazing operation on 2,400 acres was used for wildfire suppression and not actual agricultural operations.