ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the importance of various farmland tenure arrangements and their relationships to structural changes in U.S. agriculture are examined. Farm real estate represents about two-thirds of the physical asset wealth of the U.S. farming sector (USDA 1991). Claims on current income flows and potential or realized capital appreciation are major sources of income and wealth for farmers and landowners. The major economic policy concern about farm real estate is whether existing or prospective land tenure arrangements facilitate or impede efficient resource allocation, including capacity for technological change. The major social policy concerns are related to the continued access of various social classes, such as beginning farmers without substantial family assistance or expanding farmers, to ownership and/or use of farmland.
