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Do Wealth Gains from Land Appreciation Cause Farmers to Expand Acreage or Buy Land?

Author

Listed:
  • Jeremy G. Weber
  • Nigel Key

Abstract

Recent increases in farm real estate values in the United States have increased farm equity. By exploiting periods of high and low appreciation that caused various increases in wealth for farmers owning various shares of their farmland, we examine whether U.S. grain farmers expanded their acres harvested or acres owned in response to an increase in their land wealth. We find that land wealth had little effect on farm size. However, for similarly-sized farms, a larger ownership share (10 percentage points) led to an increase in the growth of land owned (2 percentage points). Because older farmers own more of the land that they farm, greater land appreciation slows the rate at which younger farmers acquire land relative to older farmers.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy G. Weber & Nigel Key, 2014. "Do Wealth Gains from Land Appreciation Cause Farmers to Expand Acreage or Buy Land?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1334-1348.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:96:y:2014:i:5:p:1334-1348.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ajae/aau019
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    Cited by:

    1. Cortney Cowley, 2016. "The Dispersion of Farmland Values in the Tenth District," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, issue Q IV, pages 29-67.
    2. Prager, Daniel & Tulman, Sarah & Durst, Ron, "undated". "How do tax loss benefits and asset appreciation affect the returns to farming for U.S. farm households?," 2018 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 5-7, 2018, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 266304, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Mukasa Adamon N. & Anthony M. Simpasa & Adeleke Oluwole Salami, 2017. "Working Paper 247 - Credit constraints and farm productivity: Micro-level evidence from smallholder farmers in Ethiopia," Working Paper Series 2356, African Development Bank.
    4. Callahan, Scott & Ifft, Jennifer & Michaud, Clayton P., 2022. "The impact of countercyclical farm programs on agricultural land values," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322579, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Burns, Christopher & Key, Nigel & Tulman, Sarah & Borchers, Allison & Weber, Jeremy, 2018. "Farmland Values, Land Ownership, and Returns to Farmland, 2000-2016," Economic Research Report 276249, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Czyżewski, Bazyli & Trojanek, Radosław, 2016. "Drivers of agricultural land prices in terms of different functions of rural areas in Poland," Problems of Agricultural Economics / Zagadnienia Ekonomiki Rolnej 249742, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI).
    7. Yuewen Huo & Songlin Ye & Zhou Wu & Fusuo Zhang & Guohua Mi, 2022. "Barriers to the Development of Agricultural Mechanization in the North and Northeast China Plains: A Farmer Survey," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-14, February.
    8. Jauernig, Johanna & Brosig, Stephan & Hüttel, Silke, 2023. "Profession and residency matter: Farmers' preferences for farmland price regulation in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 74(3), pages 816-834.
    9. Katherine Lacy & Peter F. Orazem & Skyler Schneekloth, 2023. "Measuring the American farm size distribution," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 219-242, January.
    10. Kapinos, Pavel & Gurley-Calvez, Tami & Kapinos, Kandice, 2016. "(Un)expected housing price changes: Identifying the drivers of small business finance," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 79-94.
    11. Yifei Wu & Jeffrey H. Dorfman & Brady E. Brewer, 2021. "The susceptibility of farmland loans to default under falling farmland and commodity prices," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(4), pages 561-574, July.
    12. Grout, Travis & Ifft, Jennifer & Malinovskaya, Anna, 2021. "Energy income and farm viability: Evidence from USDA farm survey data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    13. 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.
    14. Xu, Yuelu & Elbakidze, Levan & Etienne, Xiaoli, 2023. "Unconventional Oil and Gas Development and Agricultural Land-Use in the United States," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 48(2), May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets

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