Weekly farm report for Oct. 18

Iowa State University has conducted an Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey every five years since 1992. The survey was also conducted in 1949, 1958, 1976 and 1982. It is a statistically representative sample of all owners and all land in Iowa as of July 1, 2017. It is the first and only consistent data collection of Iowa land ownership and tenure in the nation.

In 1982 approximately 27 percent of Iowa farmland was owned by owners 65 years old and older and 25 percent of Iowa farmland was owned by owners 44 years old and younger. By 2017 approximately 60 percent of Iowa farmland is owned by owners 65 years old and older and only about 5 percent of Iowa farmland is owned by owners 44 years old and younger. The high capital investment and the inability of farmland to cash flow continues to prevent young farmers from purchasing farmland.

The following graph indicates that up until 80 years of age, men owned the majority of the farmland, but after the age of 80 women become the majority owners of Iowa farmland. Some might say that women work the men to death, but I imagine it is in the genes.

Another interesting trend is the shift of crop/share leases to cash rent leases. In 1982 about 50 percent of the farm leases were crop/share and 50 percent were cash rent. By 2017 only about 19 percent were crop share leases and 81 percent were cash rent. As profits improved and owners became older, it was much simpler to just do a cash rent lease. Our research shows that up until 2013, crop/share leases returned more revenue to the land owner than cash rent. Since we have had the reduction in commodity prices, cash rent is now giving a better return, but this could change in the future.

A quick summary of the survey shows these trends:

' 82 percent of Iowa land is debt-free.

' 60 percent of land owned by owners 65 years old or older, 33 percent of land owned by owners 75 years old or older and 13 percent of land is owned by owners 80 years old or older is owned by women.

' Ownership continues to shift from sole ownership to trusts and corporations.

' 53 percent of Iowa land rented out is mainly cash rent.

' 34 percent of Iowa land owned by landlords with no farming experience.

' 23 percent of land owned by retired farmers who do not currently farm.

' 29 percent of Iowa land owned primarily for family/sentimental reasons.

' 4 percent of Iowa land with cover crops planted.

'20 percent of owners willing to pay for a portion of planting cost to plant cover crops.