IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/usdami/333543.html

Access to Farmland by Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers: Issues and Opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Callahan, Scott
  • Hellerstein, Daniel

Abstract

The 2017 Census of Agriculture reported that more than one-third of producers are over 65 years of age, and the distribution of agricultural land has shifted to fewer, larger landholders. Socially disadvantaged (SDA) producers (classified by race, ethnicity, and/or gender) may have fewer financial resources and face additional constraints when buying or raising capital for expanding farm operations. This report used USDA survey, census, and administrative data to examine measures of land access and other factors associated with the share of SDA and beginning farmers and ranchers in a county in 25 States. Several measures of land tenure, federal program participation, agricultural sales, and demographic information were used to estimate how land access and federal programs correlate with the percentage of SDA and beginning farming operations at the county level. The percentage of beginning farmers and ranchers in a county is positively correlated with the percent of rented farmland acres and negatively correlated with crop insurance premiums (measured in dollars per acre) and average farmer age. The study also found the percentage of SDA operations in a county is negatively correlated with the percentage of sales in field crops and positively correlated with the percentage of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan applications granted, and percentage of direct-to-consumer sales. Results indicated the average lease size, the percentage of livestock sales, and decreasing urbanization are negatively correlated with the percentage of SDA and beginning operations. In contrast, the percentage of rented farmland and the percentage of SDA populations are positively correlated with the percentage of SDA operators in a county.

Suggested Citation

  • Callahan, Scott & Hellerstein, Daniel, "undated". "Access to Farmland by Beginning and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers: Issues and Opportunities," USDA Miscellaneous 333543, United States Department of Agriculture.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:usdami:333543
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.333543
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/333543/files/ap-096.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.333543?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mykel R. Taylor & Nathan P. Hendricks & Gabriel S. Sampson & Dillon Garr, 2021. "The Opportunity Cost of the Conservation Reserve Program: A Kansas Land Example," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 849-865, June.
    2. McFadden, Jonathan R. & Hoppe, Robert A., 2017. "The Evolving Distribution of Payments From Commodity, Conservation, and Federal Crop Insurance Programs," Economic Information Bulletin 291932, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Key, Nigel & Lyons, Greg, "undated". "An Overview of Beginning Farms and Farmers," Economic Brief 301074, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Claassen, Roger & Hellerstein, Daniel & Wallander, Steven, . "2018 Farm Act Retains Conservation Programs But Could Reduce Payments for Land Retirement," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 0(11).
    5. Siraj G. Bawa & Scott Callahan, "undated". "Absent Landlords in Agriculture -- A Statistical Analysis," USDA Miscellaneous 310203, United States Department of Agriculture.
    6. Ani L. Katchova & Mary Clare Ahearn, 2016. "Dynamics of Farmland Ownership and Leasing: Implications for Young and Beginning Farmers," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 334-350.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Winikoff, Justin B. & Maguire, Karen, 2024. "The Role of Commercial Energy Payments in Agricultural Producer Income," Economic Information Bulletin 342468, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Horst, Megan & Valliant, Julia & Freedgood, Julia, 2024. "An evaluation of the federal Transition Incentives Program on land access for next-generation farmers," Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, Center for Transformative Action, Cornell University, vol. 13(2).
    3. Todd, Jessica E. & Whitt, Christine & Key, Nigel & Mandalay, Okkar, 2024. "An Overview of Farms Operated by Socially Disadvantaged, Women, and Limited Resource Farmers and Ranchers in the United States," Economic Information Bulletin 340512, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Julia C. D. Valliant & Marie T. O’Neill & Julia Freedgood, 2025. "Bipartisan creation of US Land Access Policy Incentives: states’ efforts to support beginning farmers and resist farm consolidation and loss," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 42(1), pages 421-439, March.
    5. Hartarska, Valentina & Adjei, Eugene & Nadolnyak, Denis, 2024. "The transition incentive program and women farmers in the USA," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Winikoff, Justin B. & Maguire, Karen, 2024. "The Role of Commercial Energy Payments in Agricultural Producer Income," Economic Information Bulletin 342468, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. repec:ags:aaea22:336002 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Adjei, Eugene & Hartarska, Valentina M., 2022. "An Impact Analysis of the Transition Incentive Program on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers in Rural United States," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322506, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Becca B. R. Jablonski & Nigel Key & Joleen Hadrich & Allie Bauman & Sarah Campbell & Dawn Thilmany & Martha Sullins, 2022. "Opportunities to support beginning farmers and ranchers in the 2023 Farm Bill," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(3), pages 1177-1194, September.
    5. Bonface O. Manono, 2025. "Small-Scale Farming in the United States: Challenges and Pathways to Enhanced Productivity and Profitability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-30, July.
    6. Coppess, Jonathan & Ellison, Brenna & Kalaitzandonakes, Maria, . "Perspectives on Farmers and Farming from the Gardner Food and Agricultural Policy Survey," farmdoc daily, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, vol. 13(58).
    7. Adam Calo, 2018. "How knowledge deficit interventions fail to resolve beginning farmer challenges," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(2), pages 367-381, June.
    8. Lars Isenhardt & Stefan Seifert & Silke Hüttel, 2023. "Tenant Favoritism and Right of First Refusals in Farmland Auctions: Competition and Price Effects," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 99(2), pages 302-324.
    9. Robert Dinterman & Ani L Katchova, 2020. "Property Tax Incidence on Cropland Cash Rent," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(4), pages 739-758, December.
    10. Valliant, Julia C.D. & Ruhf, Kathryn Z. & Gibson, Kevin D. & Brooks, J.R. & Farmer, James R., 2019. "Fostering farm transfers from farm owners to unrelated, new farmers: A qualitative assessment of farm link services," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 438-447.
    11. Weir, Rebecca & Hadrich, Joleen & Jablonski, Becca & Bauman, Allie, 2022. "Financial performance of beginning dairy farmers in Minnesota," Staff Papers 329376, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    12. Rachel M. Shellabarger & Rachel C. Voss & Monika Egerer & Shun-Nan Chiang, 2019. "Challenging the urban–rural dichotomy in agri-food systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(1), pages 91-103, March.
    13. Bauman, Allison & Jablonski, Becca B. R. & Key, Nigel D. & Hadrich, Joleen C., 2022. "Land tenure and profitability outcomes for U.S. beginning farmers and ranchers," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322233, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Julia C. D. Valliant & Marie T. O’Neill & Julia Freedgood, 2025. "Bipartisan creation of US Land Access Policy Incentives: states’ efforts to support beginning farmers and resist farm consolidation and loss," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 42(1), pages 421-439, March.
    15. Rahe, Mallory L. & Tsay, Juo-Han & Low, Sarah A., 2023. "Vendor persistence and sales growth 2019-2021: Evidence from five rural Oregon farmers markets," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 336002, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Jayalath, Tharaka A. & Grala, Robert K. & Grado, Stephen C. & Evans, David L., 2021. "Increasing provision of ecosystem services through participation in a conservation program," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    17. 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.
    18. Tsaiyu Chang, 2021. "Does religious social capital affect farmland transactions? A spatial autoregressive analysis in Taiwan," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 223-245, December.
    19. Keefe O. Keeley & Kevin J. Wolz & Kaitie I. Adams & Jeannine H. Richards & Erin Hannum & Severine von Tscharner Fleming & Stephen J. Ventura, 2019. "Multi-Party Agroforestry: Emergent Approaches to Trees and Tenure on Farms in the Midwest USA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-22, April.
    20. Gabriel Medina & Catherine Isley & J. Arbuckle, 2021. "Promoting sustainable agriculture: Iowa stakeholders’ perspectives on the US Farm Bill conservation programs," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 173-194, January.
    21. Winters-Michaud, Clayton P. & Haro, Alfredo & Callahan, Scott & Bigelow, Daniel P., 2024. "Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2017," Economic Information Bulletin 345316, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:usdami:333543. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.usda.gov .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.