OWNEBSHIP OF TENANT FARMS IN THE UNITED STATES 
31 
AGE AT TIME OF RETIRING FROM FARMING 
A total of 7,858 men who had operated farms as tenants or owners 
and retired gave their age and the age at which they retired from farm- 
ing. Some of these men were so young at the time they reported 
their status that it seemed probable they would eventually take up 
another occupation if they did not go back to farming. To eliminate 
the men whose permanent status as retired farmers might be ques- 
tioned, all those landlords who reported themselves as retired from 
farming but who were not yet 40 years of age were disregarded in 
the tabulations undertaken to determine the age at which landlords 
with farming experience retired from farming. The number of 
records thus discarded was 275, leaving 7,583 landlords whose age 
was 40 years or more who had farmed for themselves but were now 
retired from farming. The average age of this group of landlords was 
63.1 years and the age at which they retired from farming averaged 
53.6 years. Northern and southern landlords retired at about the 
same age. Most of the replies came from the North, where there is 
a larger group of retired farmer landlords than there is in the South 
(Table 18). 
Table 18. — Average age at which farm landlords in various parts of the United 
States retired from farming 
Location of farms 
Land- 
lords 
report- 
ing J 
Average 
age at 
retire- 
ment 
Division or State 
Counties 
Total 
Group i 
North Atlantic 
Number 
19 
46 
39 
35 
19 
17 
9 
Number 
1-4 
5-9 
10-14 
15-22 
23-26 
27-30 
31 
Number 
910 
3,284 
2,307 
373 
165 
438 
87 
Year 
53; 7 
East North Central 
53.2 
West North Central 
54 3 
South Atlantic 
55 
East South Central 
55.2 
West South Central 
51.1 
California 
53.9 
Northern States 
104 
71 
1-14 
15-30 
6,501 
976 
53.7 
Southern States 
53.3 
All areas studied 
184 
1-31 
3 7, 583 
53.6 
1 See footnote 4 on p. 3. 
2 Males of 40 or more years of age who reported themselves retired after having farmed for themselves. 
3 Includes a few scattered reports. 
COMPARISON OF AGES OF TENANT AND OF OWNER FARMERS WITH AGES OF FARM 
LANDLORDS 
Table 19 shows a comparison of the ages of landlords with the ages 
of tenants and of operating owners. The significance of the con- 
trasts may be broadly stated as follows: 
It has become increasingly customary for farmers in the United 
States to begin as tenants. As tenants they occupy the first step of 
the tenure ladder. Tenant farmers are the youngest group of farmers. 
Their ages average about 39 years. Tenants who succeed buy land 
out of their savings and thenceforth farm small places which they own 
outright, larger places which they own subject to mortgage, or places 
to part of which they own title. In time the mortgages are paid off 
by the successful farmers and more land purchased. As successful 
