Of Women and Land: How Gender Affects Successions and Transfers of Iowa Farms

Qing Liu, Beatrice Maule, Wendong Zhang
January 2023  [22-WP 631] (Revised)

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Suggested citation:

Liu, Q., B. Maule, and W. Zhang. 2023. "Of Women and Land: How Gender Affects Successions and Transfers of Iowa Farms." Working paper 22-WP 631. Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University.

Abstract

Using 589 responses to the 2019 Iowa Farm Transfer Survey, we examine factors in farm successor choices among Iowa farmers with a focus on female successors and landowners. Among those with identified successors, 57% chose sons and 8% chose daughters. We find a 12.4% probability a female farmer will choose a daughter, but only 5.9% for a male farmer. Agriculture experience increases the probability of choosing a daughter from 5.4% to 20.7% and from 36.3% to 65.2% for a son. Our paper reveals striking evidence of gender imbalance in farm succession, transfer, and inheritance decisions of U.S. farms.