Title page
Contents
Abstract 3
Acknowledgments 3
Summary 5
Introduction 7
Past Research 10
Land Leasing 11
Types of Farmland Lease Agreements 11
Land Leasing Across Crops 12
Land Leasing Within an Operation 14
Conservation Practices: Patterns of Practice Adoption by Land Tenure 16
Conservation Practices 16
Conservation Practice Typology 17
Practice Adoption by Tenure Group 18
Practice Adoption by Tenure Group, Across Regions 22
Institutions and Features of Rental Markets 33
Soil Quality 33
Contract Characteristics: Norms and Institutions 37
Conclusion 43
References 46
Appendix A. Land Leasing Within an Operation (Additional Figures) 51
Appendix B. Structural Practices 59
Appendix C. Practice Adoption by Tenure Group, Across Regions (Additional Figures) 62
Table 1. Cropland acreage by ownership status by principal field crop (thousands of acres) with the percentage of that crop year's total acreage, 2011-21 14
Table 2. Average Soil Tillage Intensity Rating for rented plots versus owner-operated plots, 2011-21 20
Table 3. Average rate of cover crop adoption for rented plots versus owner-operated plots, 2011-21 22
Table 4. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among corn production (2021 USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)) 24
Table 5. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among barley production (2019 USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)) 26
Table 6. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among sorghum production (2019 USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)) 28
Table 7. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among soybean production (2018 USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)) 30
Table 8. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among cotton production (2019 USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)) 32
Table 9. Proportion of fields by tenure group with moderate or steep grades, by percentage, 2011-21 35
Table 10. Prevalence of highly erodible land designations for rented plots versus owner-operated plots, by percentage, 2011-21 36
Figure 1. Average U.S. cropland values, 1997-2022 9
Figure 2. Cropland acreage by ownership status (owner-operated versus leased) by principal field crop, 2011-21 13
Figure 3. Histogram of the percentage of operation land that is owned for surveyed soybean operators, 2018 15
Figure 4. Average owned acreage and rented acreage, based on USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) responses from soybean growers, 2018 16
Figure 5. Soil Tillage Intensity Rating on selected crops and survey years, 2011-21 19
Figure 6. Adoption rate of cover cropping by commodity type and survey year, 2015-21 21
Figure 7. USDA, Economic Research Service Farm Resource Regions, 2000 23
Figure 8. U.S. corn-growing fields by USDA, Farm Resource Region, 2021 25
Figure 9. U.S. barley-growing fields by USDA, Farm Resource Region, 2019 27
Figure 10. U.S. sorghum-growing fields by USDA, Farm Resource Region, 2019 29
Figure 11. U.S. soybean-growing fields by USDA, Farm Resource Region, 2018 31
Figure 12. U.S. cotton-growing fields by USDA, Farm Resource Region, 2019 33
Figure 13. Proportion of fields by tenure group with moderate or steep grades, 2011-21 34
Figure 14. Percentage of crop acreage with highly erodible land across crops and years of USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), 2011-21 36
Figure 15. Farmland acreage by lease type, 2014 38
Figure 16. Percent of total lease acreage by lease type and decision-making authority: Government program participation, management decisions, and conservation... 40
Figure 17. Farmland acreage by lease type and family relation, 2014 42
Figure 18. Farmland acreage by lease type and tenure duration, 2014 43
Table B.1. On-field structural adoption for rented plots versus owner-operated plots, 2018-21 60
Table B.2. Off-field structural practices adoption rates for rented plots versus owner-operated plots, 2018-21 61
Table C.1. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among corn production, 2016 62
Table C.2. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among barley production (2011 USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)) 64
Table C.3. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among sorghum production, 2011 66
Table C.4. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among soybean production (2012 USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)) 68
Table C.5. Regional patterns in conservation adoption rates among cotton production, 2015 70
Figure A.1. Histogram of the percentage of operation land that is owned, based on USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) responses from barley... 51
Figure A.2. Histogram of the percentage of operation land that is owned, based on USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) responses from sorghum... 52
Figure A.3. Histogram of the percentage of operation land that is owned, based on USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) responses from cotton... 53
Figure A.4. Histogram of the percentage of operation land that is owned, based on USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) responses from corn... 54
Figure A.5. Average owned acres and average rented acres, based on USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) responses from barley growers, 2019 55
Figure A.6. Average owned acreage and rented acreage, based on responses from USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) sorghum growers, 2019 56
Figure A.7. Average owned acreage and rented acreage, based on responses from USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) cotton growers, 2019 57
Figure A.8. Average owned acreage and rented acreage, based on USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) responses from corn growers, 2021 58
Figure B.1. On-field structural practices adoption rates across several crops and years of the USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), 2018-21 60
Figure B.2. Off-field structural practices adoption rates across several crops and years of the USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), 2018-21 61
Figure C.1. U.S. corn-growing fields by USDA Farm Resource Region, 2016 63
Figure C.2. U.S. barley-growing fields by USDA Farm Resource Region, 2011 65
Figure C.3. U.S. sorghum-growing fields by USDA Farm Resource Region, 2011 67
Figure C.4. U.S. soybean-growing fields by USDA Farm Resource Region, 2012 69
Figure C.5. U.S. cotton-growing fields by USDA Farm Resource Region, 2015 71