The USDA’s latest Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey shows that U.S. farmland is increasingly owned by older, non-farming landlords, with only a modest amount expected to change hands over the next five years. The findings highlight growing structural pressure around land access, rental markets, and succession as billions of dollars in land assets are held by aging owners.
For those not familiar, the TOTAL Survey is a comprehensive study of all land rented out for agricultural purposes, including both land rented out by those who are themselves farmers and ranchers (operator landlords) and land rented out by those who do not operate a farm themselves (non-operator landlords). A summary of the survey results is HERE. Below are some of the highlights.
Who Owns and Rents US Farmland? The results from the TOTAL survey, which the USDA released in early March, found a little over 2 million landowners rented out about 347.8 million acres of farmland for agricultural purposes. That is slightly less than the roughly 353.8 million acres rented in 2014, indicating a small decline in rented acreage over the decade. The survey confirms that non-farmers dominate the rental market: about 79% of rented U.S. farmland acres are owned by non-operating (non-farmer) landlords. Privately owned land was the largest share (38%) of all agricultural land rented out by non-operating landlords, followed by trusts (27%) and family-owned legal entities (26%). Of the total non-operating landlord entities, most had an ownership type of privately owned (67%) or trust (17%). Operating landlords—farmers who also rent land out—account for only a minority of rented acres (21%), and their share has not grown enough to offset the rise of non-farming owners.
Rental Income, Expenses, and Financial Structure: Rental of farmland remains a major income stream for landowners. In 2024, landlords received $34.1 billion in rental payments, up +9% compared with 2014. At the same time, the survey reports some $12 billion in operating expenses associated with this land, including both ownership and production-related costs. The value of rented farmland, including buildings, now exceeds $1.6 trillion, up roughly +47% from 2014 as land values have appreciated. Strikingly, most of this land is debt-free, with landlords’ debt at only about 3% of the value of land and buildings. In 2024, 88% of acres rented out by operating landlords, and 95% of acres rented out by non-operating landlords, were fully paid for, which is comparable to 2014.
Aging Landlords and Demographics: Among roughly 1.8 million principal non-farming landlord entities, the average age is about 69 years, more than a decade older than the average U.S. farmer. Only about 12% of principal landlords are under 55, underscoring how heavily farmland ownership is concentrated among older generations. Nearly 52% of principal non-operating landlords have never farmed themselves, suggesting a growing separation between land ownership and on-the-ground agricultural management. Ownership is also increasingly shared and structured. New questions in 2024 show that many landlord entities have multiple owners, and about 60% of those entities report that at least some co-owners are married to each other. Trusts and family entities play a growing role in how land is held and eventually transferred, which has implications for control, taxation, and who can access land when it changes hands.
Land Transition and the Next Five Years: A central innovation in TOTAL 2024 is a deeper look at how and when land is expected to change hands. Landlords were asked about recent acquisitions and about their transition plans for the next five years. For many owners, the most recent land acquisition occurred before 2014, indicating that ownership is relatively stable and long-held. New questions on acquisition via trusts, purchases from relatives and nonrelatives, and other channels show that trust-based transfers are especially important among recent acquisitions.
Looking ahead, the survey estimates that about 43 million acres—roughly 5% of all U.S. farmland—are expected to change ownership within five years. Non-operating landlords alone report plans to transition around 168 million acres via wills or trusts, with roughly 40-plus million acres expected to be sold or gifted, about half going to nonrelatives. About 10% of farmland is expected to be placed into trusts and around 15% transferred through wills, indicating that a large share of the transition will occur outside open-market sales.
Non-operating landlords were asked to report transition plans beyond a five-year horizon as well. Regardless of time frame, non-operating landlords plan to transition ownership (as a share of owned acres rented out) through wills (42%) and trusts (26%), or sell to a relative (2%), a non-relative (7%) or gift/donate (2%). Landlords may have indicated more than one method through which they intended to transfer land. 20% of non-operating landlords indicated no plans for transitioning owned acres.
