By Ryan Hanrahan
Progressive Farmer’s Todd Neeley reported that “the vast majority of over two million landowners who rented out 347.8 million acres of agricultural land in 2024 were non-farming landlords, according to the latest USDA survey data, while the amount of land rent collected has increased since 2014.”
“The 2024 Tenure, Ownership and Transition of Agricultural Land survey results released by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, showed 79% of the acres are owned by non-farming landlords,” Neeley reported. “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 landlords, over 251 million acres were rented out by private landowners, trusts or family entities,” Neeley reported. “…Rented farmland acres combined with buildings on this land are valued at more than $1.6 trillion, according to the NASS survey. In 2024, landlords combined received $34.1 billion in rental income, which is 9% higher compared to 2014. Landowners also incurred about $12 billion in total operating expenses.”
RFD-TV’s Marion Kirkpatrick reported that “regionally, the Plains hold the largest share of rented farmland at about 149 million acres — 43 percent of the total. The Midwest has the most landlords, with nearly 800,000 managing rental ground.”
“The survey also collected demographic information on the 1.8 million non-farming entities, also known as principal landlords. The average age of these landlords is 69.2 years old, according to the survey. That exceeds the age of the average farmer, who is 58.1 years old, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture,” Neeley reported. “Just 12% of all principal landlords were under 55 years old while nearly 52% of all the principal landlords have never farmed.”
Source : illinois.edu