The population of those 65 and over continues to increase in the counties of Idaho that contain a large amount of agricultural land. As a result, older Idahoans who own this land are at a crossroads of whether to pass it to a successor or sell it when they can no longer tend to it themselves.
Idaho’s landownership
The seven largest private commercial landowning organizations or individuals in the state account for 6% of the total private land, with an estimated 1.8 million total acres in land usage for farming, ranching or logging [1]. The other 70.4% is public land.
This leaves 23.6% of Idaho’s private land, or an estimated 9.7 million total acres [2], in the hands of smaller landowners who will decide the majority of Idaho’s future private land use.
Figure 1. Estimated share of landownership, Idaho, 2020
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Project: 2018 and U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistical Service: 2020 Census of Agriculture
Land usage and aging landowners
One important measure of a county’s agricultural land usage is the proportion of farm acreage out of the total land. When factoring this in with a county’s average age, a quarter of Idaho’s counties have both a 25% or more share of farming land and a 20% or more share of the population age 65 or older [3,4]. Figures 2 and 3 highlight this correlation.
Figure 2. Share of population 65 and over relative to total farmland, Idaho, 2023
Figure 3. Select major farming counties with high aging populations, Idaho, 2023
Source: 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture and 2023 U.S. Census American Community Survey
This aging demographic includes farmers, ranchers and large landowners who hire out the labor or work the land acreage themselves. The issue of an aging farmer population in these geographies is that most types of farmland require ongoing manual labor to move irrigation pipe, divert water gates, drive farm equipment and so on.
The sustainability and imminent phasing-out of workable lands by the farmers, ranchers and other landowners leads to a critical juncture of land succession when they are no longer able to render the farm labor on their own.
Succession of agriculture land rights
Farms and ranches may be primarily owned and operated by the landowners themselves. Otherwise, farmland is rented out for agricultural purposes to either operator landlords (those who are themselves farmers and ranchers) or non-operator landlords (those who do not operate a farm themselves).
A majority of U.S. land in farms (60.7%) is owner-operated [3], which has been a relatively stable trend the past 50 years (Figure 4). The major implication is that when a farm or ranch owner retires or passes away, the succession of their working land goes to either the next owner or a lessee, or it simply ends.
Critical decisions must be made on the fate of legacy family farms based on whether the land will maintain its original intended use or be sold for other purposes, like land development for housing or commercial use.
Figure 4. U.S. farmland that is rented/leased, 1969-2022
Agricultural land values and ownership
It is projected by 2035 that 41% of agricultural land across the U.S. will have a change in ownership [5]. This will be due in part to an aging population of farmers and ranchers who have no family land succession plan in place. The land will then need to be sold to a new owner, whether it be another farmer or a land developer.
The figure below shows how the costs for different agricultural land types have continued to increase annually in recent years.
Figure 5. Agricultural land values, Idaho 2019-2023
Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Land Values 2023
Per 2024 market listings, the average price of purchasing an Idaho ranch was $2.6 million, or $5,745 per acre [6]. The average price of purchasing an Idaho farm was $903,000, or $4,238 per acre [7].
For a new farmer, the cost of acquiring a working farm or ranch in Idaho is the highest it’s ever been. Coupled with high interest rates, it makes for a prohibitive purchasing climate. However, the equity gained from farm and ranch ownership in the state has in turn become increasingly more valuable over the past several decades compared to when most owners initially purchased their properties (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Agricultural value per acre, Idaho farms, 1980-2024
Source: United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service
As farm values increase over time, farm owners and their families may opt to cash out to developers, investors or large agricultural conglomerates. Another option may be to refinance by leveraging higher equity and securing cash for farm expansion, equipment or crop diversification. Beyond these options, retirement or land succession may be delayed, as farmland is held longer in hopes that values continue to rise before transferring ownership.
If and when the decision is made to transfer legacy farm or ranch ownership to the next generation, planning for family, financial and legal transactions become an important factor. Several resources in Idaho assist with agricultural land succession and preservation, including the Idaho Department of Agriculture and the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts – Land Conservation Assistance Network.
Ryan.Whitesides@labor.idaho.gov, labor economist
Idaho Department of Labor
208-696-2347
Sources:
- The Land Report, Winter ed. 2023
- Summitpost.org
- United States Department of Agriculture-National Agriculture Statistics Service, Census of Agriculture, 2022
- United States Census Bureau, 2023 American Community Survey 1-year estimates
- American Farmland Trust
- LandSearch.com
- United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Land Values 2023 and LandWatch.com
This Idaho Department of Labor project is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for SFY25 as part of a Workforce Information grant (40%) and state/nonfederal funds (60%) totaling $885,703.
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