2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) - Highlights

Highlights
Farmland Ownership and Tenure

ACH 12-27/September 2015

Results from the 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey
2.1 million landowners . . .
. . . rented out 353.8 million
acres of agricultural land in
2014.

Top States in Rent
Received
($ billions)

Illinois
Iowa
Nebraska
Minnesota
Texas
California
Indiana
South Dakota
Kansas
Missouri

3.8
3.7
2.4
2.0
2.0
1.9
1.5
1.5
1.4
1.3

Nearly 40 percent of U.S. farmland is rented or leased from someone else,
according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture. Moreover, the concentration of
rented farmland varies significantly across the country (Fig. 1).
To learn more about the rented land and who owns it, USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducted a special study as part of the
Census of Agriculture program to collect data from landowners and landlords
of agricultural land. The 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural
Land (TOTAL)
Fig. 1
survey collected
Percent of U.S. Farmland Rented or Leased, by County, 2012
data in the 48
contiguous states
on landlords’
acres rented out,
U.S. = 38.8%
income, expenses,
assets, debt,
race, gender,
land transfer
plans, and more
NASS conducted
percent
TOTAL in
< 20
20 - 29
collaboration with
30 - 39
USDA’s Economic
40 - 49
Research Service.
50 - 59
60 +

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

Landlord Ownership Arrangements
In 2014, more than 2 million
landowners rented out 353.8 million
acres of land for agricultural purposes.
This is 39 percent of the 911 million
acres of farmland in the surveyed
states (and consistent with the 2012
Census findings).
Of these landowners, 13 percent

United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

were farmers and ranchers (operator
landlords) and 87 percent were
landlords who do not operate a
farm (non-operator landlords). Nonoperator landlords include those
who rent out land individually or as
participants in a variety of ownership
arrangements (partnership, trust,
corporation, municipality, limited

www.agcensus.usda.gov
(800)727-9540
1

liability company, etc.). A small number rent out land under
more than one arrangement. Of the acres rented out,
20 percent were rented out by operator landlords, and
80 percent by non-operator landlords. (Table 1)
A similar survey in 1999, the Agricultural Economics and
Land Ownership Survey (AELOS), found that 12 percent
were operator landlords and 88 percent were non-operator
landlords. Different methodologies between AELOS and
TOTAL make direct comparisons difficult, but AELOS
found that landlords rented out 394.3 million acres in 1999.
AELOS included Alaska and Hawaii.
Table 1
Landlords and Acres Rented Out by Ownership Arrangements, 2014
Number of Landlordsa
Operator Landlord

280,044

Acres Rented Out
(millions) (percent)
70.3
20

Non-operator Landlord
Individual
Partnership
Trust
Corporation
Other

1,851,796
1,092,551
361,826
249,632
91,011
56,776

283.4
138.2
52.8
50.6
31.5
10.4

80
39
15
14
9
3

Total

2,131,840

353.8

100.0

a
Landlords who rent out land under more than one arrangement are included in all
relevant arrangements.
Numbers in this and other tables may not add due to rounding.
Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey.

Economics of Land Ownership
In 2014, landlords received $31.2 billion in rent payments.
Their expenses were $9.2 billion, and their debt related to
the land they rented out was $32.8 billion. The value of the
land and buildings they held on their rental acres was
$1.1 trillion. (Table 2)

Table 2
Income, Expenses, Assets, and Debt Related to Acres Rented Out, 2014
($ billions)

Operator Landlord

Rent
Received
6.9

Expenses
1.9

24.3
15.3
7.4
0.9
0.7
31.2

7.4
4.8
2.2
0.2
0.2
9.2

Non-operator Landlord
Individual/Partnership
Corporation/Trust
Other
Multiplea
Total

2

Debt
7.9

931.9
591.2
273.1
35.7
31.9
1,132.0

24.8
18.0
5.8
0.7
0.4
32.8

a
Refers to the 2 percent of non-operator landlords who rent out agricultural land under more
than one ownership arrangement.
Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey.

Table 3
Ownership and Production Expenses, by Region, 2014
($ millions and share of total landlord expenses in region)
Ownership Expenses

Northeast
Appalachian
South
Midwest
Plains
West

$ millions
270.2
337.9
347.7
2,401.2
1,950.9
1,035.7

Total U.S.

6,343.7

% of landlord
expenses
86
82
68
65
67
72
69

Production Expenses
% of landlord
expenses
14
18
32
35
33
28

$ millions
44.3
72.4
160.4
1,280.0
943.8
396.1
2,896.9

31

Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey.

Fig. 2
Landlord Expenses (Ownership and Production), by Region, 2014
U.S. = $9.2 billion
Midwest
$3.7 billion

Eighty-nine percent of acres rented out by operator landlords, and 94 percent of acres rented out by non-operator
landlords, were fully paid for.
The $9.2 billion in 2014 expenses include both ownership
expenses (for example, interest, taxes) and production
expenses (for example, fertilizer, feed, fuels, repairs, insurance, wages). For the United States, 69 percent of expenses were ownership, and 31 percent were production,
expenses. This varied across regions, with the share of
ownership expenses highest in the Northeast and Appalachian regions and lowest in the Midwest and Plains. (Table
3) Figure 2 shows the states in each region and also total
expenses for each region.

Value of
Land and
Buildings
200.1

Northeast
$0.3 billion
Appalachian
$0.4 billion
West
$1.4 billion
Plains
$2.9 billion

South
$0.5 billion

State data available for the 25 solid-colored states. States with dots are in regional totals only.
Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey.

2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey

Demographic Characteristics

Land Uses

Of the 1.9 million non-operator landlords, 1.4 million can
be called “principal landlords.” They are either individual
owners or the principal in a partnership arrangement.

Of the total land rented out by operator and non-operator
landlords, 63 percent was for cropland and 34 percent was
for pasture. The remaining 3 percent was for other uses
such as forest/woodland not pastured, buildings, ponds,
ditches, and wasteland.

The average age of principal landlords in 2014 was
66.5 years. Principal landlords are older than principal farm
operators, whose average age was 58.3 years in 2012.
(The 2012 Census of Agriculture defines a principal operator as the person who makes the day-to-day business decisions for a farming operation.) More than half (57 percent)
of principal landlords were 65 years or older in 2014. They
account for 67 percent of the rent received, 67 percent of
the value of land and buildings, and 32 percent of the debt
related to acres rented out. (Table 4)
Most principal landlords have college education; 25 percent have some college, and 38 percent have four or more
years.
In terms of race, 97 percent of principal landlords are white.
Two percent are Hispanic, regardless of race. Landlords
who are white accounted for 98 percent of rent received,
expenses, and the value of land and buildings, and 99
percent of debt, in 2014.
Fifty-four percent of principal landlords are not currently
in the paid workforce; 41 percent are employed outside of
farming. Forty-five percent have never farmed.

In addition to renting out the land, landowners also lease
or sell various rights, including mineral rights, recreational
rights, development rights, and wind rights. Non-operator
landlords leased oil and gas rights on 31.9 million acres
and sold those rights on 4.1 million acres. Out of total farmland in the United States, oil and gas rights were leased on
61.0 million acres and sold on 11.3 million acres. (Table 5)
Table 5
Agricultural Land: Selected Rights Leased and Sold, 2014
(millions of acres)

Oil and gas rights leased
Other rights leased
Of which: wind rights

Land Rented Out by
Non-operator Landlord
31.9
14.9
3.5

Oil and gas rights sold
Other rights sold
Of which: development rights

All Farmland
61.0
35.6

4.1
1.0
0.7

11.3
3.4

Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey.

Table 4
Principal Landlords: Income, Expenses, Assets, Debt, by Age
($ billions and percent)
Number of
Principal
Landlordsa
Total
< 55 years
55 to 64 years
65 to 74 years
75 to 84 years
85+ years
All ages

1,432,065
percent
18
25
29
19
9
100

Value of
Rent
Expenses Land and
Received
Buildings
($ billions)
15.9
4.9
621.8
percent
11
14
12
22
22
21
30
29
31
25
24
24
12
11
12
100
100
100

Debt

How did landlords acquire the land they rent out?

18.2

Operator landlords purchased more than 60 percent of
the land they rent out from a non-relative, a relative, or at
auction (similar to the way farmland was acquired in the
United States generally). Non-operator landlords inherited or
received as a gift more than half of the land they rent out.

a
Non-operator landlords who are individuals or the principal partner in a partnership.
Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey.

2012 Census of Agriculture

34
34
18
12
2
100

(percent acquired this way)

Purchased from non-relative
Purchased from relative
Purchased at auction
Inherited or received gift
Obtained some other way
Total

Operator
Landlord
41
17
5
37
100

Non-operator
Landlord
31
11
2
54
2
100

All
Farmland
44
16
4
35
1
100

3

Snapshot of States: Farmland
Rented Out
Northeast
Pennsylvania
Appalachian
Kentucky
North Carolina
South
Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Mississippi
Midwest
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Ohio
Wisconsin
Plains
Kansas
Nebraska
North Dakota
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Texas
West
California
Idaho
Washington

Acres
Rented Out
millions
6.3
2.3
15.5
4.0
3.6
23.9
2.4
6.5
2.7
2.7
4.0
76.8
16.2
7.9
16.3
4.0
11.6
9.8
6.2
4.7
148.6
23.7
20.1
19.6
13.9
17.3
53.9
82.6
11.6
3.6
5.7

Acres to
Transfer
millions
0.9
0.3
1.2
0.3
0.3
2.1
0.4
0.5
NA
0.2
0.3
9.0
1.9
0.8
1.7
0.9
1.2
1.1
0.8
0.5
22.5
3.2
2.1
2.8
1.7
2.6
10.1
13.2
1.8
0.4
0.5

Value of Land
and Buildings
$ billions
31.2
13.1
53.0
13.1
15.1
66.9
6.1
17.7
9.4
8.1
11.0
419.1
107.8
43.8
100.6
16.2
58.0
39.3
35.1
18.3
368.3
56.5
64.4
42.0
32.8
46.1
126.4
193.5
62.6
10.6
14.7

Rent
Received
$ billions
0.4
0.2
1.2
0.5
0.3
2.1
0.1
0.7
0.2
0.2
0.4
14.3
3.8
1.5
3.7
0.4
2.0
1.3
1.0
0.6
8.5
1.4
2.4
0.9
0.4
1.5
2.0
4.6
1.9
0.5
0.4

A Look Ahead: Ownership
Transfer
The TOTAL survey asked landowners about their plans for
transferring ownership in the next five years – what they
plan to do not only with the land they currently rent out
for agricultural purposes but with all their land. Operator
landlords expect to transfer 15 percent, and non-operator
landlords 14 percent, of the land they rent out. Operator
landlords plan to transfer a larger percentage (70 percent)
through trusts than non-operator landlords.
The 91.5 million acres expected to transfer to new ownership is 10 percent of all farmland (Table 6), with the Northeast, Plains, and West transferring a larger share than
other regions (Fig. 3). Not included are the 57.1 million
acres landowners have put or plan to put into wills.
Table 6
Five-year Plan to Transfer Acres Rented Out and All Farmland
(millions of acres and percent)
Operator
Non-operator
Landlord
Landlord
Acres
Acres
%
%
(mil.)
(mil.)
Put/keep in trust
7.3
70
15.4
40
Sell to non-relative
1.7
17
10.5
27
Gift
0.5
5
8.0
21
Sell to relative
0.9
8
4.2
11
Other
0.5
1
Total to transfer
10.4
100
38.5
100

www.agcensus.usda.gov

4

%
48
23
14
14
1
100

Fig. 3
Percent of Region’s Farmland Expected to Transfer in Next Five Years, 2014
U.S. = 10%
Midwest
9%
Northeast
11%

About TOTAL and the Census of Agriculture

For more information on the TOTAL survey, go to:
www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/TOTAL. For
information on the Census of Agriculture, visit:

Acres
(mil.)
44.2
21.1
12.6
13.2
0.5
91.5

Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey.

Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey.

The 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural
Land (TOTAL) Survey is part of the Census of Agriculture
program. NASS conducted the TOTAL survey in collaboration
with the USDA’s Economic Research Service.

All Farmland

Appalachian
6%
West
11%
Plains
11%

South
7%

State data available for the 25 solid-colored states. States with dots are in regional totals only.
Source: USDA NASS, 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey, and
USDA NASS, 2014 Farms and Land in Farms report.

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