WASHINGTON — Nearly 80% of rented farmland is owned by non-farming landlords, according to a new U.S. Department of Agriculture survey.
More than 2 million landowners rented out 348 million acres of farmland nationwide, according to the results of the 2024 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey, released March 12 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Of these acres, 79% are owned by non-farming landlords. That’s just over 276 million acres.
About 39% of the United States’ total 880 million acres of farmland is rented.
Just over half of the 1.8 million non-farming landowners, called principal landlords, have never farmed, according to the TOTAL survey.
According to the findings, the average age of these landlords is 69.2 years old. This age far exceeds that of the average farmer, who is 58.1 years old, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Only 12% of all principal landlords were under 55-years-old.
Other quick stats
- Renting farmland is a big business. According to the survey results, rented farmland acres, combined with buildings on this land, are valued at more than $1.6 trillion. In 2024, landlords combined received $34.1 billion in rental income while incurring $12 billion in total operating expenses.
- The largest number of landlords, about 38%, was in the Midwest region, which, for this survey, includes Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri. There are nearly 800,000 landlords in the Midwest.
- More than a third of non-farming landlords were 75 or older, and they rented out more than 40% of total acres.
- Non-farming landlords acquired the majority of their land (54%) through inheritance, trusts, and gifts. About 14% of the land was acquired by buying it from a relative. Most of these land acquisitions happened before 2014, survey respondents said.
- Most land isn’t going to change hands any time soon. Non-operating landlords intend to sell relatively little land in the next five years, about 5% of owned acres.
Read the survey highlights here or get the full report at nass.usda.gov.
