Richard L. Bowen
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
University of Hawaii
On Fri, 21 Mar 1997, steve bonney wrote:
> Yesterday, our newspaper featured a front page article entitled "FOR
> RENT: FARMLAND," indicating that for the first time in history, more Indiana
> farmland is being rented (52%) than is farmed by its owners. In Illinois,
> 62% of farmed land is rented. And those figures are based on 1992 census
> figures.
> One farmer whose family farm dates back to 1847 said that he rented
> his 518 acre farm to another farmer because he (the owner) could not achieve
> the efficiency of his new tenant. "His cost of production is far below
> mine," he said. The tenant farmer owns 4000 acres and rents 5000 more.
> An interesting comparison was made by the spokesman for the farm
> management company who was interviewed. He said (in response to the fact
> that some farmers rent 100% of their farmed ground), "I don't see that as a
> negative; Walmart tends to rent or lease most of their buildings."
> The article goes on to say that as late as the 1960's, 240 acre
> family farms were common. Professional farm management companies now say
> 1,200 acres is needed. Good farmland costs $3000/acre to purchase. One
> Illinois farmer farms upwards of 40,000 acres (the figures vary in different
> accounts) in Illinois and Indiana and is paying cash rents above
> $200/acre/year in several areas.
> Where will this end? How much stewardship of land resources can
> exist in this bottom-line driven mode? Mining soil health and exporting soil
> do not add up to cheap food. The full cost of production will be borne by
> future generations. Yet, what farmer will risk cutting inputs, and settle
> for lower yields, in this high stakes race?
> One can now understand why we are so frantic to develop agricultural
> systems that sustain families on reasonably sized farms (arbitrarily, 40 to
> 500 acres). Although census figures show 63,000 Indiana farms, there are
> only about 10,000 full time farmers in the state.
> Maybe Gene Logsdon has it right -- this train is eventually going to
> derail and we'll regroup as family farms. I still believe that our efforts
> to build local and regional food systems will provide the infrastructure for
> future agriculture. (Who cares what is local?; it is only as big as it needs
> to be for any given area.)
>
> Regards,
> Steve
> Steve Bonney, President
> Indiana Sustainable Agriculture Association
> 100 Georgton Ct.
> W. Lafayette IN 47906
> (317) 463-9366, fax (317) 497-0164
> email sbonney@iquest.net
>
>