3/24/00

Contacts:
Neil E. Harl, Economics, 515/294-6354
Susan Thompson, Agriculture Information, 515/294-0705

NEW REPORT RELEASED ON IOWA FARMLAND OWNERSHIP

AMES, Iowa -- A recent Iowa State University study shows that in 1997, only 38.8 percent of Iowa farmland was owner-operated. Between 1982 and 1997, a 15-year period, there was a 30 percent decrease in owner-operated farmland in the state.

These and other facts emerge in the report "Farmland Ownership and Tenure in Iowa 1982-1997: A Fifteen-year Perspective." It was written by Neil E. Harl, Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and economics professor, and Charles A. Pieper, a research assistant in the ISU economics department.

The report is based on telephone surveys of 656 landowners. Similar surveys were done in 1982 and 1992, so the 1997 survey identifies new trends and compares old trends using data from the two earlier surveys.

Major conclusions from the 1997 study are:

• Ownership structure is shifting from sole, corporate and co-ownership to partnerships, trusts and limited liability companies. Sole owners and husband/wife (joint) owners continue to own the majority of the farmland in the state at a combined 70.3 percent. In 1992, that amount was 75.4 percent.
• Partnerships and trusts experienced increases in ownership share over the 1982 to 1997 period. An estimated 7.4 percent of Iowa farmland was owned in trusts in 1997. Limited liability companies (LLC) and limited liability partnerships (LLP) combined to own 9.3 percent of all Iowa farmland.
• More than 66 percent of Iowa farmland was owned by persons 55 years and older in 1997 with a large increase in the 55-64 years of age group. In 1992, that age group owned 62 percent of Iowa farmland. In 1982, it owned 50 percent.
• In 1997, 59.8 percent of Iowa farmland was free of debt. In 1982, 61.8 percent of Iowa farmland was debt-free. In 1992, debt-free land in the state stood at 69.6 percent.
• Anticipated methods of farmland transfer show increased percentages of land being gifted, sold and put in a trust, compared with 1992. Land sold is anticipated to increase by more than 20 percent from the 1982 survey. The most often anticipated method of transfer remains the willing of land to family members, with 30 percent of all farmland in this category.
• Only 2.7 percent of Iowa farmland was estimated to be transferred in the five years beginning in 1997.

Single copies of the report are available at no cost from ISU Extension Publications Distribution. Request publication EDC-198 through county extension offices or by calling 515/294-5247.

The full report also is available on the ISU economics department Web site at: http://www.econ.iastate.edu/research/abstracts/NDN0073.html

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