Who owns corporate farms

Corporate-owned farms bumped up about 11 percent to around 7, in , the data showed. Family-owned farms fell about 5 percent to 74, Overall, the number of farms in Iowa shrank by 4, over the five years covered in the census. Even with the shift, families and individuals owned about 80 percent of total farms, about the same as in , the report showed.

Supporters of corporations say they can be more competitive, have higher productivity and can produce food cheaper and more efficiently than small family farms.

Corporate owners contend they can bring stability to agriculture and security to farmers. Through efficient large-scale production, they will be able to produce large quantities of agricultural products that will translate into cheaper food prices for the consumer. Most offer a set wage, insurance benefits, and retirement options to workers. Also, workers can clock in at 8 A.

Many corporations will purchase farmland because it has been a good long-term investment. It also offers tax benefits. One insurance representative explained,. Critics counter that corporate farms throw large numbers of people off the land.

As family farmers leave, they leave behind wasted towns, deserted communities, depleted resources, empty institutions, and people without hope and without a future. Owners of corporate farms may live hundreds of miles away and know little about the land itself or the community around it.

All they care about, critics say, are profits. Some corporate farms have been accused of destroying the land, for example, by plowing fragile land in the Sandhills to put in center pivot irrigation machines and then abandoning the land to the sand when crop prices drop. Corporate farms are generally larger, so they can buy directly from the fertilizer factories and other suppliers that are located in urban manufacturing centers.

They can ship huge quantities of goods profitably to major markets far away, bypassing local markets. Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Trends and patterns in the ownership of agricultural land are of perennial interest to all involved with the farm sector. Farmland tenure, which broadly refers to the institutions governing the control and use of farmland, shapes many farm decisions, including those related to production, conservation, and succession planning.

Given the relatively advanced age of many farmers, both tenure and ownership can also have important implications for access to land, an issue that is particularly salient for new and beginning farmers. A majority of U. The national share of farmland that is owner-operated has been relatively stable over the past 50 years, with a noticeable decline during the farm crisis of the s. Embed this chart Download higher resolution chart pixels by , dpi.

The study provides both a descriptive baseline analysis of land ownership and a more detailed look at several aspects of land tenure, including non-operator landlords, rental agreements, the acquisition and transfer of land, and how decisionmaking is shared by landlords and their tenants.

Both of these definitions focus on ownership of the business and not on farming practices or farm size. It is important for farmers to have the freedom to choose a business model that works for them, and both family and corporate ownership have advantages.

My husband and I make decisions about our farm at the dinner table with his parents. On the other hand, a corporation has the ability to seek outside investors to raise the large amount of capital required to run a farm today.