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Renters, landlords, and farmland stewardship

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  • B. James Deaton
  • Chad Lawley
  • Karthik Nadella

Abstract

Are farmers better stewards of the land they own than the land they rent from others? We answer this question using a data set that identifies Ontario farmers’ conservation practices on their own land as well as the land they rent. Using a fixed‐effects regression approach, we find that the role of tenure varies for different types of conservation practices. Farmers were found to be just as likely to adopt a machinery‐related practice such as conservation tillage on their rented land as that land which they own. On the other hand, farmers were found to be less likely to adopt site‐specific conservation practices such as planting cover crops on rented land. However, this effect diminishes as the expected length of the rental relationship increases when the landlord has a farming background.

Suggested Citation

  • B. James Deaton & Chad Lawley & Karthik Nadella, 2018. "Renters, landlords, and farmland stewardship," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(4), pages 521-531, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:49:y:2018:i:4:p:521-531
    DOI: 10.1111/agec.12433
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    Cited by:

    1. Zheng, Hongyun & Ma, Wanglin & Zhou, Xiaoshi, 2021. "Effects of Renting-in Cropland on Machinery Use Intensity and Land Productivity: Evidence from Rural China," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315084, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Ranjan, Pranay & Arbuckle, J. Gordon & Church, Sarah P. & Eanes, Francis R. & Floress, Kristin & Gao, Yuling & Gramig, Benjamin M. & Singh, Ajay S. & Prokopy, Linda S., 2022. "Understanding the relationship between land tenure and conservation behavior: Recommendations for social science research," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    3. B. James Deaton & Chad Lawley, 2022. "A survey of literature examining farmland prices: A Canadian focus," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 70(2), pages 95-121, June.
    4. Sawadgo, Wendiam & Zhang, Wendong & Plastina, Alejandro, 2019. "What drives landowners’ conservation decisions? Evidence from Iowa," ISU General Staff Papers 201905230700001082, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    5. Laura Onofri & Samuele Trestini & Fateh Mamine & Jason Loughrey, 2023. "Understanding agricultural land leasing in Ireland: a transaction cost approach," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.

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