Over 2.0 million landowners rented out 348 million acres of farmland, with 79% owned by non-farming landlords, according to the 2024 Tenure, Ownership and Transition of Agricultural Land survey released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Non-operating landlords include entities who rent out agricultural land under various ownership arrangements, including privately owned, trust, family entity, non-family entity or other. Of the land rented out by non-operating landlords, over 251 million acres were rented out by private landowners, trusts or family entities.
Rented farmland acres, combined with buildings on this land, are valued at more than $1.6 trillion. In 2024, landlords combined received $34.1 billion in rental income while incurring $12.0 billion in total operating expenses.
"About 5% of the nearly 900 million U.S. farmland acres, or about 43 million acres, is slated for ownership transfer in the next five years, not including farmland that is in or is expected to be put into wills or trusts," said Joseph L. Parsons, NASS administrator.
Only 23 million acres of land are expected to be sold to a non-relative, while 20 million acres are expected to be sold to a relative or given as a gift, meaning only a small percentage of farmland will be available for purchase.
The survey provides demographic information for 1.8 million non-farming entities, also known as principal landlords. The average age of these landlords is 69.2 years old, exceeding the average farmer age of 58.1 years old. Only 12% of all principal landlords were under 55 years old, while nearly 52% have never farmed.
