Do they live locally? They may just want to sell it, maybe they just want to lease it for more than you paid? I believe here you can have the lease recorded with the county and it would go on the deed for the duration of the lease.

I'm not sure ide walk away from the lease...maybe it's a good time to offer to buy the property if you can afford it.

I've been thinking about this and my response would vary dramatically on how they asked.

If they said something like "dad died and we're moving back to help care for mom and we really want the grandkids to be able to hunt the farm" I would happily take the check, maybe ask for a weekend to hunt to cover the food plots and move on.

If they said "your lease is void don't come back" and had an attitude about it then I would go talk to the old lady and she what she had to say, if they want to sell it I would take a buyout but it wouldn't be for the same amount I paid, the value of the lease has increased with the work and food plots and the fact you have to spend time/energy finding a new lease.