EasternIowaFarmer_Fall2023

Ag Bytes
Wendong Zhang,
Assistant Professor
of economics,
Cornell University
Center for Sustainable
Agriculture,
Department of
Economics, Center
for Agricultural
and Rural Development
and Iowa
State University
Extension and
Outreach.
Farmland leases
also increasingly
favor cash rent
over crop sharing
and owner-operating
arrangements.
In 2017, 82% of
leased farmland
was cash rented, but cash rent, predominantly
fixed-cash rental contracts, now
account for 87% of leased land.
“The rise of cash rent, especially fixed
cash rent, correlates with the growing percentage
of landowners who are part-time
Jingyi Tong,
PhD economic student
at Iowa State University
and non-residents
of Iowa,” Zhang
said. “Fifty-five
percent of land
is owned by an
owner who did
not farm in 2022,
and, of them, over
half do not have
farming experience.
Especially
for those landowners,
a fixed cash
rental contract is a
natural choice.”
According to
the study, 47%
of farmland was directly operated by the
landowner in 2017, but that number has
now fallen to just 42%.
The survey found that the average age
of Iowa’s farmland owners is still increasing.
In 1982, only 29% of Iowa farmland
was owned by those over the age of 65.
That percentage has steadily increased
over the years, totaling 60% in 2017 and
66% today. Tong noted that women own
46% of Iowa’s farmland, and they hold a
larger share among senior owners.
Tong said several factors are contributing
to the increasing age of Iowa’s
farmland owners, including the increase
in using farmland as an inheritance or
long-term investment, fewer young people
going into farming, and those young farmers
facing large start-up costs.
“Also, some senior farmers may retain
ownership of their land due to a lack of
succession planning, thus keeping the
farm even if they aren’t actively farming.
The survey shows 17% of landowners
neither have a successor for ownership or
management,” Tong said.
However, Tong noted that survey results
show three of every four landowners
in Iowa are interested in selling land to
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