The Laiidlord-Tehant Problem 



By CAP MAST 



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.ARCH 1 to many a farm 

 family means moving day. 

 To some it means moving to 

 farm — to others a poorer one 

 — to some a larger and to some a 

 smaller. But to all it means new neigh- 

 bors, new problems, and a great many 

 readjustments. 



Much has been said about tenanqr dur- 

 ing the past few years and no doubt 

 tenanqr as we in the corn belt know it, 

 has had more than its share of unfavor- 

 able publicity. Happily, much earnest 

 and sincere thought is being given the 

 whole problem of farm tenancy by land- 

 lords and tenants as well as educational 

 institutions, organized agriculture, and 

 governmental agencies. Out of it all 

 we may find an approach which will do 

 much to remedy the annual "swapping" 

 of Illinois farms. 



The Department of Agricultural Eco- 

 nomics, University of Illinois, has held 

 a series of meetings where landlords and 

 tenants were invited to attend and dis- 

 cuss their mutual problems. 



It was at such a meeting in the Farm 

 Bureau office at Ottawa recently, that 

 Prof. H. C. M. Case, head of the Agri- 

 cultural Economics Dept., explained that 

 42% of Illinois farms are tenant op- 

 erated. Furthermore that in Illinois, 

 Iowa, and South Dakota, if we add the 

 land operated by tenants, to the amount 

 mortgaged by land owners, only a one- 

 third equity remains with the farmers 



who actually live on the land. 



How would you answer the following 

 question asked by Prof. Case. "Will the 

 owner operated or tenant operated farms 

 show the most profit.'" 



The LaSalle County group of land- 

 lords and tenants were about evenly di- 

 vided in their opinions. Case said that 

 farm account records show that owner- 

 operated farms have larger gross incomes 

 but tenant-operated farms show a larger 

 net return. 



Some reasons advanced for larger 

 gross returns on owner-operated farms 

 were ( 1 ) that tenant farms on an aver- 

 age have a larger percentage of the land 



"TThis is not a criticism, for they are 

 taking a more active part in community 

 life. Schools, churches, farm organiza- 

 tions, agricultural adjustment programs, 

 etc., call upon them for time." He 

 pointed out that records show owner- 

 operators spend a little more for im- 

 provements. They may put up that bam 

 or poultry house they've dreamed of or 

 electrify the farm even though it costs 

 more. 



The subject of soil fertility was dis- 

 cussed as it applies to landlord-tenant 

 relationship. According to Case, farmers 

 began to realize about 20 years ago that 

 yields might not hold up under the sys- 



Here Are Some Practical Ways to 



_ Improve Landlord-Tenant Relations 



in soil depleting crops; and (2) that 

 yields were higher on owner-operated 

 farms because of better systems of farm- 

 ing. 



And why the larger net returns on 

 tenant farms? First of all, as a rule ten- 

 ants are a younger group than owners 

 and are putting in longer hours and in 

 many instances trying to get enough 

 money together to make a down pay- 

 ment on a farm. 



"We find owners as a group are not 

 applying themselves perhaps as much as 

 they did when younger," said Case. 



WHEN BOTH LANDLORD AND TENANT TAKE AN ACTIVE INTEREST IN BETTER 

 Farming and Improving Soil Fertility the Income of Each Will Go Up. 



tern of farming in use. The problem has 

 been somewhat hidden because of better 

 yielding varieties of crops, more ad- 

 vanced methods of tillage, improved ma- 

 chinery, and better control of insects. 

 "And yet with all these improvements," 

 he said, "yields in east central Illinois are 

 going down. In Western Illinois (live- 

 stock area) the yields apparently are 

 holding their own." 



Emphasizing that we haven't given 

 enough attention to the value of land 

 productivity. Prof. Case asked if anyone 

 thought a farm which produced 25 bush- 

 els of corn to an acre was half as good 

 as one which produced 50 bushels. 



This factor is one which should be 

 taken into consideration when leases are 

 made. Just because it is a common rule 

 to have a 50/50 basis for division of 

 grain is no reason for using such a plan 

 on a farm which produces much less 

 than average. 



A difference of opinion was expressed 

 on the subject of length of leases but it 

 was generally agreed that merely a long 

 term lease would not and could not 

 bring about long tenure. It was also 

 agreed that it would make for better sys- 

 tems of farming on tenant operated 

 farms if tenants were notified earlier 

 than is the general custom, as to whether 

 or not they would have their farm an- 

 other year. 



One land owner stated that if a tenant 

 knows when he puts in seeding that he 

 will benefit from it, he will be able to 

 plan ahead, have more livestock and take 

 better care of the seeding. 



Have you ever considered what effect 

 the age of the landlord has on the ten- 



>RD 



MAY, 1938 



