The average price of an acre of cropland soared from $1,590 in 2002 to $4,090 as of August, according to the USDA. Seventy-six million acres of farmland have disappeared in the past 30 years, snapped up by investors and developers and converted into pasture and parks. About 40 percent of the remaining 911 million acres is rented, as more aging and retired farmers are choosing a steady income stream over the windfall from an outright sale. Only 10 percent of America’s total acreage is expected to change hands through 2019, and most of that will do so through gifts, trusts, and wills, rather than sales, the USDA says.
The land-succession issue and the graying farmer population (the average age is 58) have spurred the USDA to pour almost $130 million into beginning-farmer education and training programs since 2009. Also, 75 percent of funding through the Farm Service Agency, the USDA’s lending arm, is reserved for beginning farmers. In fiscal year 2016, the agency made or guaranteed almost 6,000 landownership loans to beginning farmers, totaling about $1.5 billion, roughly double the dollar figure in 2010.
The bottom line: The number of U.S. tenant farmers age 25 to 44 has defied overall trends, climbing 9 percent from 2007 to 2012.
