The $1.7 Trillion Landlord: New USDA Data Reveals the Shifting Face of Ownership

(3/12/26) Farm Journal reports on new USDA showing a 47% surge in rented farmland value over the past decade, even as the footprint of available acreage shrinks. With $1.7 trillion in assets now held by a shifting demographic of landlords, the landscape of American agriculture is undergoing a transformation. Highlights:

• Per the 2024 Tenure, Ownership and Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) survey, there are a little more than 2 million landowners renting out 347.8 million acres for agricultural production. That compares to 2% fewer landlords in 2014, but 10 years ago there was 353.8 million acres rented out.
• Of the total landowners in 2024, 87% are non-operating landlords (1,830,043) renting out 276,082,757 acres. For acres owned by the share of non-operating landlords, privately owned land was 38%, trusts 27%, and family owned legal entities 26%. Nearly 52% of all the principal landlords have never farmed.
• “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, administrator of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
• For all owned farmland, the USDA says 22.8 million and 12.8 million acres will be sold to non-relatives and relatives, respectively; 7.4 million acres will be gifted or donated. More than 226.7 million acres will be kept or placed in a trust or will.

The Land Stewardship Project recently hosted an “Are You Ready” farmland access workshop. One of the issues discussed was the idea of cooperative and other forms of “alternative” farmland ownership models. For resources on accessing farmland, click here.

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Why the Kids Won’t Farm

(3/12/26) Writing in The New York Times, Brooks Lamb argues that despite the conventional wisdom that young people don’t want to farm, the opposite is true. However, several barriers prevent them from pursuing this advocation. Highlights:

• In the next two decades, the owners of roughly 300 million acres of American farm and ranch land are expected to retire or die. How and to whom this land is transferred will determine the future of rural America and our food system.
• The biggest barrier to entry for next-generation farmers is the high price of farmland. Young people need an agricultural economy that makes it easier for them to farm and they need viable, consistent markets for high-quality local products.
• The impending wave of land transfers mixed with the current economic crises in agriculture have prompted more nonprofit organizations to support aging farmers with succession planning. Others are trying to keep agricultural land in the hands of farmers rather than real estate developers. “This work is important. But unless it’s coupled with broader structural reforms, rural farming communities will languish,” writes Lamb. “We need to make agriculture more welcoming to the next generation.”

From our nationally known Farm Beginnings course and “Are You Ready” land access workshops to our Farmland Clearinghouse and the Farm Transition Planning class, LSP is working on several fronts to provide opportunities for the next generation of farmers to get established successfully on the land. We also are working on the state and federal levels to support policy initiatives such as the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit and the Down Payment Assistance Grant.

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The Iran War Is Sending Fertilizer Prices Soaring at the Worst Time for Farmers

(3/10/26) As they prepare for spring planting, U.S. crop farmers are experiencing sticker shock as fertilizer prices skyrocket in the wake of the war against Iran, according to AgWeb.  Highlights:

• Nitrogen fertilizer supply chains are closely tied to the Persian Gulf region, which accounts for nearly 49% of global urea exports and about 30% of global ammonia exports. Major exporters include Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
• According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the U.S. imports roughly 97% of its potassium, 18% of its nitrogen, and 13% of its phosphate.
• Because energy is a major input in fertilizer manufacturing and transportation, disruptions in the region’s oil supply can quickly amplify ag input price volatility.
• One local Missouri retailer told AgWeb that in just a two-week period urea has gone up $140 per ton, ammonia $100 per ton, and urea ammonium nitrate $100 per ton.
• As fertilizer prices climb, some policymakers are calling for closer scrutiny of the industry, citing concerns about consolidation and potential market manipulation. The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation into the U.S. fertilizer sector.

For insights into how dependent the U.S. is on overseas sources of fertility, check out the LSP blog “The Devil’s in the Details.” 

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The Unexpected Rise of the Oat Mafia

(2/28/26) Offrange reports on the “Oat Mafia,” a group of Iowa and Minnesota farmers who have banded together to promote the integration of oats into corn-soybean rotations. They are also attempting to become a major source of oats for regional milling operations, which are currently getting most of this small grain from other countries like Canada. Highlights:

• Planted early in the season, oats suck up nitrogen that might otherwise leach into groundwater. They’re often paired with red clover, which protects soil from erosion and fixes nitrogen for other crops. And when added to a corn-soybean rotation, oats help break pest cycles, reduce disease pressure, and curb resistant weeds.
• In 1950, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin produced more than 18 million acres of oats. By 2024, there were just 294,000 acres, most of which are grown for feed. Much of the decline was due to the consolidation around corn and soybeans, crops that are heavily incentivized. Federal crop insurance subsidies cover roughly 60% of premiums for corn and soybeans, while government support for biofuel infrastructure created a guaranteed market for corn ethanol. This can make it challenging to introduce a third crop into a rotation.
• There is growing consumer interest in oat-based foods. For example, in 2021 oat milk sales hit $350 million in the U.S.; in 2025, that grew to $860 million; it’s projected to reach $1.74 billion in 2031.
• Several members of the Oat Mafia have invested in Green Acres Milling, a processor in Albert Lea, Minn., expected to go online in August. All the oats sold to the mill will be grown using regenerative practices. They’ll also be traceable, which farmers hope will be a selling point for companies that want to highlight where their products originate.

Looking for information on diversifying out of an input-intensive row crop rotation? Check out LSP’s Small Grains web page. Recent LSP podcasts have discussed the role oats can play in diversifying our cropping systems.

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Farmers Voice Ag Economy Frustrations at Commodity Classic

(2/27/26) Morning AgClips summarizes reporting from the 2026 Commodity Classic in Texas, where farmers expressed frustration with high input prices and inflated expenses for seed, fertilizer, and credit. Highlights:

•  Progressive Farmer’s Chris Clayton reported that “on the opening day of Commodity Classic, there were some angry conversations between farm leaders and representatives of major fertilizer, seed, chemical and machinery companies…The frustration levels are high as farmers are moving into their fourth year of a continued cycle of low commodity prices and stubbornly high input costs.”
• “We’re seven years out from this last farm bill and all of this information that we’re trying to work with is so outdated, our costs are so different, we have to get something done,” said Jed Bower, the current president of the National Corn Growers Association and an Ohio farmer.
• Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who spoke at the event, said she’ll keep working to lower farm production costs and uncover what’s behind a surge in input prices for American growers.

In February, LSP staff and farmer-members traveled to Washington, D.C., to talk to policymakers about the need for ag policy that benefits small and medium-sized farmers, the land, and rural economies. Details on that fly-in are here.

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Wisconsin Agency Tasked with Industrial Farm Permits Plagued by Low-Staffing Levels

(3/11/26) Investigate Midwest has published a report showing that the growth of industrial farms in Wisconsin is outpacing regulators tasked with reviewing permits and overseeing compliance with waste regulations. Highlights:

• Wisconsin currently has 370 active or pending concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) permits, most of which are dairy farms with about 700 or more cattle. Wisconsin dairy farms produce roughly 12 billion pounds of manure annually, according to the University of Wisconsin.
• The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources monitors and oversees management of these permits that track manure waste at the state’s largest farms. As of early March, there were 13.5 full-time-equivalent field staff members in the department overseeing the CAFO program, well short of the 20-to-1 staffing target the state has long said it needs. State officials originally set a goal of one staff member for every 20 farms when permitting laws took effect in 1985. The department has not met this goal since 2010, and today the ratio is roughly 27 farms per CAFO program staff, the highest the ratio has ever been. The department has rarely achieved an ideal ratio in the past two decades, while the number of Wisconsin CAFOs has increased 160%. This comes at a time when the state has lost nearly 18,000 dairy farms, mostly small-scale operations.
• Last year, a dairy CAFO in northern Wisconsin spilled an unknown amount of manure into nearby Trappers Creek, leaving fish dead in a five-mile stretch of the waterway. The state DNR was not aware of the spill until several days later.

LSP is calling for a thorough environmental review of an unprecedented proposal that would create the largest livestock operation in Minnesota. The public has until April 9 to comment on the so-called “West River Dairy Expansion” in Stevens County. For details, click here.

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Senate Dems Seek to Break Up Meatpacking Industry

(3/6/26) Farmdoc reports that Democrats in the U.S. Senate have introduced a bill that would limit major meatpacking conglomerates to one major type of meat, such as beef, pork, or poultry, and impose limits on beef market concentration at both regional and national levels. Highlights:

• The meatpacking industry has long faced bipartisan scrutiny due to high levels of concentration. The country’s top four beef packers buy more than 80% of cattle, while a separate group of pork processors account for about two-thirds of hog purchases, according to the USDA.
• The proposed bill limits sales arrangements between a single feedlot and a packer, which critics argue can be the functional equivalent of ownership. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also would regain authority over meatpacking and agricultural markets, which Congress stripped from the agency in the 1930s, leaving only the Justice Department to provide federal antitrust oversight of those markets.
• The lawmakers behind the bill said the legislation would require foreign-owned companies like Brazil’s JBS to divest U.S. assets and would order a “comprehensive study” of other foreign-controlled firms like Smithfield Foods, Inc.

In episode 389 of LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Odette talks about why it’s important for farmers and other rural residents to document and report possible examples of unfair marketing practices and antitrust violations. Check out this LSP blog on an innovative initiative to help expand access to more localized, decentralized meat processing in Minnesota.

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