Land is, arguably, one of the most essential resources in agricultural production. Whether for crop production, livestock production, forestry, or any other aspect of agriculture, producers need access to land and the resources with the land. Just as access to land is essential, who can own and operate the land is equally important. Land tenure is defined as an individual's legal rights in owning, using, and managing land. Tenure outlines who has access to the resources of the land, what can be done with those resources, and how long they can be utilized. The landowner is the person who legally owns a parcel of land, while a landlord is a landowner who rents the land to an agricultural operator. The ERS defines two different types of landlords. An operator landlord operates a portion of their land while renting out the other portion to another operator. A non-operator landlord, as the name suggests, does not operate any of the land and rents it all to another operator. 

Landlords can utilize different lease agreements with operators wanting to rent farmland. The ERS report outlines four categories of farmland lease agreements between landlords and tenants. 

• Share contract: A landlord and tenant split input costs and revenues while the tenant provides the labor and pays for other expenses. For example, in a 50/50 contract, the landlord and tenant each pay for 50% of input costs such as seed and fertilizer and receive 50% of the income from harvest. These agreements give landlords some economic return from production and reduce production risks to the tenant. 
• Cash rent contract: The tenant will pay the landlord a fixed dollar amount per acre. These agreements give tenants more control over production decisions since landlords are generally not actively involved in the operation. 
• Hybrid contract: This type of agreement can be a combination of a share and cash rent contract. 
• Free land contract: The tenant rents the land from the landlord without any financial payment. This type of contract may be used if the tenant is related to the landlord. 

The ERS report breaks down the use of each type of farmland lease agreement by specific field crops. In 2021, nearly 50% of corn acres in the United States (approximately 42.9 million acres) were operated by the landowner, while 38.5% (33.2 million acres) using cash agreements, and 10.8% (9.3 million acres) using a share rent agreement. In 2018, about 46.7% (39.8 million acres) of soybeans were operated by the landowner, with 38.3% (32.6 million acres) using cash rent agreements and 14.5% (12.3 million acres) using share rent agreements. 

An article published in farmdoc daily in July 2024 outlined the tenure characteristics of farmland in Illinois using data collected from Farm Bureau Farm Management (FBFM). Across all farms in Illinois in 2023, landowners operated 24% of farmland, 27% used a share rent agreement, and 48% used a cash rent agreement. Among pure grain farms in central Illinois, landowners operated only 15% of acres, with 37% using a share rent agreement and 48% using a cash rent agreement. The differences between the state and Central Illinois figures are based on several factors, such as soil productivity and the different types of farm operations. 

With more attention on agriculture and how producers can implement conservation practices in recent years, it is important to understand the various practices that producers can implement on their operations. Conservation practices are methods used to protect the environment and local ecosystems, improve soil health, and make farming operations more sustainable for the future. Producers can implement these practices in various ways, either independently or with assistance from government agencies such as the USDA. Government programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can offer technical or financial assistance to producers who enroll. 

The ERS report explores different conservation practices and divides them into three categories.

• Short-run: practices that can be adopted and implemented on an operation relatively quickly. Some improvements are realized soon after implementation. For example, a producer that adopts conservation tillage may see an immediate reduction in labor and fuel costs. 
• Medium-run: practices that, while they may be quick to implement, the benefits to an operation take slightly longer to realize. Cover crops are an example of a medium-run practice. A producer may plant cover crops in one season, but the environmental and operational benefits take some time to notice. 
• Long-run: practices that often take significant time and capital to implement and to see a benefit to an operation. Structural practices (i.e., bioreactors and wetlands) are prime examples of long-run practices. Constructing a bioreactor may take many years to implement, and the benefits are often slow to materialize. 

According to the report, the primary distinction between each type of practice is its irreversibility and universality. For both short-run and medium-run practices, a producer can decide to stop implementing them on their operation relatively quickly, while long-run practices take more time. In other words, it is easier for a producer to stop using conservation tillage or cover crops, but it will take years for a producer to stop using a bioreactor. A practice can also be characterized by its universality or ability to be applied to any field or operation. Short-run and medium-run practices can be adopted on nearly any field or operation, but not every operation can implement a long-run practice. For example, a producer can decide to implement conservation tillage or cover crops on any field in their operation, but not every field is an ideal location for a bioreactor. 

This first blog post began a two-part series exploring a USDA-ERS report on the adoption of conservation practices in agriculture by farmland owners and tenants. This post covered the current landscape of farmland tenure and ownership across the United States and Illinois while also defining the different types of conservation practices that producers can implement on their operations. The second post of this series will dive deeper into the report by analyzing the adoption of conservation practices by farmland owners and renters. More attention has been paid to agricultural production in recent years, and there has been a push for producers to adopt conservation practices to protect the environment and be more sustainable for the future. Understanding how farmland owners and tenants view and adopt conservation practices will help guide the discussion on how agricultural production can be more sustainable in the future. 

To read the USDA-ERS report in full, use this link: https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=108847

To read the farmdoc daily article on farmland tenure in Illinois, use this link: https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2024/07/tenure-characteristics-of-illinois-farmland-5.html