As Iowa’s farmland owners continue to age, other trends in land ownership have emerged, according to an Iowa State University (ISU) study on farmland ownership and conservation released last week.

According to the study, 58% of Iowa’s farmland is now leased, a significant increase from the last time the study was conducted in 2017. 

In addition, 84% of the land is free of debt, up from 82% in 2017; and conservation efforts have doubled in the past five years.

Wendong Zhang, assistant professor of economics at Cornell University, and Jingyi Tong, a graduate student in the Department of Economics at ISU, headed up the survey, 

completed every five years. Conducted by ISU...