Share Rents and Short-Term Farm Leases

Out of every ten farmers in South Dakota three rent all of the land they operate. Another four rent a part of the land they operate.2 Of these tenants, 83 percent operate under a 1-year lease (see table 3). Some of these leases undoubtedly continue automatically from year to year unless notice of termination is given, but even these can be cancelled by whatever notice is required in the lease at the end of any lease year. Thus, most tenants do not know how many years they will be able to operate the land they are returning. This lack of secure possession of the land has important effects on the way tenants farm and live. This in turn affects the landlords who own the farm and the community in which the farm is located. Finally, insecure possession or tenure affects the degree to which the nation has been able to achieve the objectives of production adjustment and soil conservation. Tenants have little incentive to use their spare time in making improvements on farms – build terraces, dams, fences, or erect or remodel buildings – when they have little or no assurance they will receive the benefits of their improvements. (See more in text