Written by: Brooke Bouma Kohlsdorf
Edited by: Dave Price
When Connie Chaloupka and her four sisters decided to sell their parents’ farm in Guthrie County, Iowa, earlier this month, it meant they would have to say goodbye to land that had been in their family for 142 years. “I can honestly say I am not over it. I can’t stand to think of someone else on our land,” she said.
Five local farmers ended up buying pieces of the 635-acre property for a grand total of $9,512,241.
Chaloupka’s parents had farmed the ground since the 1940s but passed away recently. Before that, two generations of farmers made a living off the land. Joe Chaloupka, who came to the United States from Bohemia (later known as Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic) bought the first plot in 1882 and another in 1890.
When Connie and her sisters -- who are all now in their 60s and 70s -- realized they had no one in their family who could keep farming the land, they made the painful decision to sell. “I don’t have peace about this right now,” she said, “Hopefully, someday I will.”
The family is not alone in making decisions like this based on age and lack of a succession plan.
The USDA gives us a snapshot of what is happening around the country.
According to the USDA’s latest Census of Agriculture:
The average age of all U.S. farm producers in 2022 was 58.1 years, up 0.6 years from 2017, continuing a long-term trend of aging in the U.S. producer population.
Producers also tend to be experienced; they have been farming an average of 23.4 years.
Between 2017 and 2022-- when the last Census of Agriculture was conducted -- the number of farms in the United States and the amount of land in farms continued to decline, and the average farm size continued to increase.
The amount and direction of change varied by state and by county, but farmland continued to be most heavily concentrated in the center of the country.
In 2022, the United States topped 1.9 million farms, down 6.9% from 2017. These farms accounted for 880.1 million acres of land, or 39% of all U.S. land.
This was a decline of 20.1 million acres (2.2%) from the 2017 level.
During the same time, the average farm size increased 5.0%, from 441 acres in 2017 to 463 acres in 2022.
According to the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, an estimated 70% of U.S. farmland will change hands in the next 20 years.
While many family farms will continue to operate by passing down the land to younger generations, the USDA reports that if a farm or ranch family has not adequately planned for succession, it is likely to go out of business, be absorbed into larger farming neighbors, or be converted to non-farm uses.
When you zoom in to the Midwest, the statistics help to better understand the dilemma facing farm families in Iowa, like the Chaloupkas.
According to the Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey released in 2023 at Iowa State University:
Two-thirds of farmland is owned by people 65 years of age or above.
37% of farmland is owned by people aged 75 and above.
Those numbers have changed a lot in the past 40 years, according to the same survey.
29 percent of Iowa farmland was owned by people 65 years of age or above in 1982.
RELATED: Check out the Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey here in the Ag Decision Maker newsletter.
The study also sheds light on why many families keep farmland, but don’t necessarily farm it themselves.
37% of Iowa farmland primarily is owned for family or sentimental reasons, a significant increase from 29% in 2017.
There is a continuous shift away from sole ownership and joint tenancy to trusts, corporations, and LLCs, which accounted for 23, 6, and 9% of the land, respectively, in July 2022.
55% of Iowa farmland is owned by someone who does not currently farm, and 53% of the non-farming owners do not have farming experience.
Although farmers are getting older, and some are struggling with succession plans, statistics in this state could give some hope for future interest in agriculture.
According to the USDA’s Census of Agriculture, the number of Iowa farms went up for the first time in 15 years.
The number of farm units increased by 0.9%.
The number of farm producers increased by 7.1%.
The number of small and medium acreage farms increased, while the number of large acreage farms decreased.
RELATED: Retired Iowa State University economist William Edwards offered his insight on what has changed with the state’s farms. Read that here.
It is not clear why Iowa’s numbers bucked national trends. But the USDA Institute of Food and Agriculture reported that the increasing popularity of local produce and direct or regional marketing is seen as an important new opportunity for small and beginning farmers and ranchers to become financially secure.
The USDA is also active in trying to help more young farmers get started. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) offers Beginning Farmer loans to help potential landowners and operators get started.
These loans have certain restrictions including how long you have farmed and how much you plan to participate in the operation.
Here are some of the loans offered:
Operating loans
Farm ownership loans
Microloans
As for Chaloupka, she wishes a younger relative could have taken over the farm and kept it in the family. She considered buying some of the property, but she didn’t have anyone in her family to operate it.
Her siblings all moved away, which also made the situation more complicated. “They are all out of state and didn’t have the same emotional tie I had.”
