Think about this for a moment: Approximately half of Minnesota’s land area is used for agriculture.
A large chunk of the state’s farmland — about 35 percent — is rented from owners who do not farm. Within this statistic is a familiar story: An older generation of farmers retires without heirs who want to take over.
Instead, their children or grandchildren scatter toward other careers or opportunities and eventually, they inherit the farmland. This presents a series of difficult choices. Decisions over who controls land and how it’s used are about much more than money or paperwork. They also touch on family, legacy and the ways people relate to the environment.
Carol Bouska lives in Minneapolis and owns farmland in northeastern Iowa with her three sisters. Meg Nielsen has farmland in southern Minnesota and lives in Wisconsin.
Both are members of a landowner group called Climate Land Leaders that works to store carbon and reduce emissions. MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer talked with them and William Lazarus, an extension economist and professor at the University of Minnesota, about farmland transitions and the roles of heirs and renters in Minnesota farm country.