A comprehensive USDA survey reveals that the majority of rented farmland in the U.S. continues to be owned by non-farming landlords.
USDA released its latest study surveying all land rented for agricultural purposes. The Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) Survey covers results from 2024 and was last conducted in 2014.
“As the only source of detailed information on agricultural land ownership characteristics and economic data, TOTAL provides important statistics to government, academia, the farming industry, and others regarding agricultural land ownership for planning, policymaking, research, and market analysis,” said Joseph Parsons, National Agricultural Statistics Service administrator.
The survey covers land ownership income, expense, debt and assets, along with other landlord characteristics. Surveying took place from January to April of last year. Public grazing lands were not included in the survey. The survey sample included all 50 states, with the non-operating landlord sample size at 17,293 and the operating sample size at 40,282.
Survey findings
In 2024, more than 2 million landowners rented out 348 million acres of land for agricultural purposes. A total of 87% were non-operating landlords who owned 79% of the rented land, and 13% were operating landlords who owned 21% of the rented land. The majority of landlords (38%) were in the Midwest region, with nearly 800,000 landlords. The West had about 23% of total landlords, at 220,000 landlords, and 79.4 million rented acres.
Non-operating landlords include entities who rent out agricultural land under a variety of ownership arrangements, including privately owned, trust, family entity, non-family entity or other. Of the land rented out by non-operating landowners, more than 251 million acres were rented out by private landowners (38%), trusts (27%) or family entities (26%).
Rented farmland acres, including buildings, were valued at $1.6 trillion in 2024. Landlords received $34.1 billion in rental income, and incurred $12 billion in total operating expenses.
Most landlords acquired their land prior to 2014, with less than 25% of landowners acquiring land in the past five years. Non-operating landlords acquired the majority of their land through inheritance, trusts and gifts, while operating landlords and operators of owned farmland acquired the majority of their land through purchases.
A small share of owned acres are expected to transition in the next five years, meaning only a small percentage of farmland will be available for purchase. About 5% of all farmland is expected to transfer, or about 43 million acres. An estimated 2.6% of all farmland (23 million acres) is expected to be sold to a non-relative, while 2.3% of all farmland (20 million acres) is expected to be sold to a relative or given as a gift.
Approximately 227 million acres are expected to transition via will or trust in the next five years. Landowners expect to keep or put 135 million acres in a will and 91.5 million of those acres in a trust.
The study also surveys the demographics of landlords. The average age of principal landlords was 69 years old, exceeding the age of the average farmer—58 years old, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Only 12% of all principal landlords were under 55 years old. Nearly 52% of all the principal landlords have never farmed.
More than one-third of non-operating landlords were 75 years and older, and they rented out more than 40% of total acres, received more than 40% of the rent, and held more than 40% of the total asset value of land and buildings. Older landlords held little debt, about 20% of the debt owned by non-operating landlords. Landlords 64 years old or younger held most of the debt.
The complete report is available at tinyurl.com/59dp66ux. — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
