Rented land

Abstract

In 2002, 38 percent of U.S. farmland was rented. In the Midwest, typically half or more of farmland was rented. In Iowa, the proportion was 51 percent. Rates were even higher in some other Midwestern states. For example, in Illinois and Indiana, the figures were 62 and 68 percent, respectively. (USDA, 2904; table 40).¹

Given this prominence, it is important to investigate whether the rental of farmland influences the use of sustainable practices. Based in Iowa, this research project examines the social dynamics between landlords, tenants, and agricultural agency professionals in order to better understand how those dynamics affect the adoption of sustainable agricultural methods on rented land.

There is widespread anecdotal evidence that rented land poses special challenges for the adoption of sustainable agriculture in Iowa (and elsewhere in the Midwest). Sustainable techniques of production, including conservation practices and organic methods, require long-term investments in management and sometimes equipment (Gliessman, 1998). The instability of tenure inherent in rental arrangements, communication issues, and conflicting goals for the land, may lead to difficulties in adoption even when one or both parties in the landlord-farmer relationship wishes to implement sustainable techniques (Netting, 1993).

Several factors promote a short-term, bottom-line approach to farming on rented land. Intense competition in some counties for cropland leads to narrow profit margins as farmers compete with each other to offer the highest rents, particularly in cash-rent situations (Hufferd and Gee, 2000). The increasing trend toward cash-rent in Iowa and elsewhere may be accelerating this tendency.² In addition, cash-rent is usually associated with greater turnover among farmers (Pieper and Harl, 2000), mitigating against long-term management investments and the formation of good communication ties between landlords and tenants. Also, the pressure for increased land base, combined with intense competition for rented land, is leading to a situation where an increasing number of farmers are working widely scattered fields—20, 30, or more miles apart. As travel times increase, farmers may feel pressure to adopt less intensive and less sustainable methods.³