Knowledge Builders

what do tenant farmers do

by Prof. Luz Mayert Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
image

Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying amounts of capital and management.

What is an example of a tenant farmer?

Many types of tenant farming existed, often dependent upon the demands of the particular type of terrain and crop. For example, in the Unites States under the slavery system the slaves who had to work cotton or sugar were worked all year round and had relatively few rights.

What did tenant farmers usually own?

Unlike sharecroppers, who could only contribute their labor but had no legal claim to the land or crops they farmed, tenant farmers frequently owned plow animals, equipment, and supplies.

What's tenant farmer mean?

: a farmer who works land owned by another and pays rent either in cash or in shares of produce.

What did tenant farmers grow?

They needed workers who would not have to be paid until they harvested a crop — usually one of the two labor-intensive cash crops that still promised to make money: cotton or tobacco. Many of these landowners divided their lands into smaller plots and turned to a tenant system.

What was the lifestyle of a tenant farmer?

The typical plan was to divide old plantations into small farms that were assigned to the tenants. Throughout the year the tenants lived rent-free. They tended their own gardens. Every week, they bought food and supplies on credit through the local country store.

Is tenant farming slavery?

However, both sharecroppers and tenant farmers faced conditions that were slave-like. Sharecroppers did not own a home, tools, or seeds but were provided them by landowners in order to farm their land. They did not own the crops they farmed and had to pay large portions of the crop to landowners for rent.

How do you become a tenant farmer?

Applicants must prove to a landlord they are dedicated to farming and have financial sustainability and sound judgement. Have an open mind and do not be limited to one location – be prepared to move. On the viewing day, take time to walk around the farm, assess the land and buildings, and get a feel for the place.

What was bad about tenant farming?

Some farmers lost their farms or their status as cash or share tenants because of crop failures, low cotton prices, laziness, ill health, poor management, exhaustion of the soil, excessive interest rates, or inability to compete with tenant labor.

How can we help tenant farmers?

creating a legal framework for the States.issuance of loan eligibility cards.ensuring that banks lend to cultivators and not owners.creation of web-based land portals after digitising land records.setting targets for short-term production credit for tenant farmers.formation of JLGs.

Was tenant farming successful?

However some tenant farmers proved successful and ultimately moved off rented lands to purchase their own tracts. Generally, however, this was not the case and the system, along with sharecropping, proved to be a failure. "Tenant Farming ." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. .

Does England still have tenant farmers?

With 12,400 tenants farming a third of the land in England, the TFA points to a looming social crisis as farmers - recent surveys put their average age now at 56 - try to leave an industry where bankruptcy is often looming.

What's the difference between tenant farmers and serfs?

A tenant was a person who had a lease or similar contract that was good for a specific time. A tenant used whatever buildings and land were specified in the agreement and paid rent. While the serf also paid rent, in the form of labor, part of a crop, or money, the serf did not have a contract.

What challenges did tenant farmers have?

Some farmers lost their farms or their status as cash or share tenants because of crop failures, low cotton prices, laziness, ill health, poor management, exhaustion of the soil, excessive interest rates, or inability to compete with tenant labor.

What do tenant farmers have in common with sharecroppers?

Both tenant farmers and sharecroppers were farmers without farms. A tenant farmer typically paid a landowner for the right to grow crops on a certain piece of property. Tenant farmers, in addition to having some cash to pay rent, also generally owned some livestock and tools needed for successful farming.

What were tenant farmers quizlet?

A tenant farmer is one who resided on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production in which landowners contribute their land and tenant farmers contribute their labor.

Was tenant farming successful?

However some tenant farmers proved successful and ultimately moved off rented lands to purchase their own tracts. Generally, however, this was not the case and the system, along with sharecropping, proved to be a failure. "Tenant Farming ." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. .

What is tenant farmer?

A tenant farmer is one who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying amounts of capital and management. Depending on the contract, tenants can make payments to the owner either of a fixed portion of the product, in cash or in a combination. The rights the tenant has over the land, the form, and measures of payment varies across systems (geographically and chronologically). In some systems, the tenant could be evicted at whim ( tenancy at will ); in others, the landowner and tenant sign a contract for a fixed number of years ( tenancy for years or indenture ). In most developed countries today, at least some restrictions are placed on the rights of landlords to evict tenants under normal circumstances.

What was the impact of tenant farmers on the United States?

The abuse of tenant farmers led to widespread emigration to the United States and the colonies and was a key factor within the Home Rule Movement. They also underlined a deterioration in Protestant-Catholic relationships, although there were notable elements of cooperation in reform attempts such as the Tenant Right League of the 1850s. Following the Great Famine tenant farmers were the largest class of people. Discontent led to the Land War of the 1870s onwards, the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870, the founding of the Land League 1879 to establish fair rents and the fixity of tenures. The movement played a key element in the unification of country and urban classes and the creation of a national identity not existing before.

What was the role of tenant farmers in Japan?

Japan. In Japan, landowners turned over their land to families of tenant farmers to manage. During the Meiji period, Japanese tenant farmers were traditionally cultivators rather than capitalistic or entrepreneurial venture by nature, paid in kind for their labors. Approximately 30% of land was held by tenants.

What was the first attempt to resolve problems of tenants rights in Ireland?

The Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870 stands out as the first attempt to resolve problems of tenants rights in Ireland and the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 went even further to inspire campaigners even in Wales.

What was the impact of the 19th century on land?

The 17th century to the early 19th century witnessed the growth of large estates, and the opportunity for a farmer to hold land other than by tenancy was significantly reduced, with the result that by the 19th century about 90% of agricultural land area and holdings were tenanted, although these figures declined markedly after World War II, to around 60% in 1950, and only 35% of agricultural land area in 1994. High rates of inheritance taxes in the postwar period led to the breakup or reduction of many large estates, allowing many tenants to buy their holdings at favourable prices.

What percentage of land was held by tenants?

Approximately 30% of land was held by tenants. Many aspects of Tokugawa feudalism continued. After WWII, the Farm Land Reform Law of 1946 banned absentee landlordism, re-distributing land and permitted tenants to buy. By the 1950s, it virtually eliminated the landlord-tenant relationship.

When did landlords have to get new tenancies?

It became difficult to obtain new tenancies as a result of landlords' reluctance to have a tenant protected by the 1986 Act and in 1995 the government of the day, with the support of industry organizations, enacted a new market-oriented code in the form of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995.

What does Tenant Farmer mean?

Tenant farmers rent or lease land and contribute their labor to the production of crops. In exchange, landowners contribute capital and management. The benefit of such an arrangement is the landowner receives profits from the land in the form of rent, and the tenant farmer is able to rear crops on land they may not have the money to purchase. Under a fair tenant farmer arrangement, both the landowner and the tenant farmer receive a benefit.

How have tenant farmers been able to increase their operations?

In the United States, groups of tenant farmers, who have incorporated, have been able to increase their operations and are now some of the most productive in the world. This has been achieved primarily through marketing and utilizing economies of scale.

What is fair tenant farming?

Under a fair tenant farmer arrangement, both the landowner and the tenant farmer receive a benefit. In many parts of the world, such as England and Wales, tenant farming remains a popular and efficient means for the production of crops. In the United States, however, tenant farming is on the decline.

What are the disadvantages of tenant farming?

Disadvantages of Tenant Farming. Tenant farming requires the tenant farmer and the landowner to work together, which could be difficult if they have different philosophies and ideas about crop production. Business processes such as paperwork and costs will also have to be navigated. Additionally, profit uncertainty and poor crop production may also ...

What are the chief considerations for renting a farm?

For those who plan to rent a farm, the chief considerations arc (1) the land must be suitable for the type of farming planned; (2) the buildings and equipment should be in a satisfactory condition; and (3) the lease should be fair.

What should a farm lease contain?

All farm leases should contain definite arrangements for (1) keeping the farm and buildings in good condition; (2) the general plan of farming; (3) contributions by each party to operating expenses ; (4) making repairs (generally the landlord provides the materials and the tenant the labor) ; (5) provision for replacing buildings destroyed by fire, storm, or other hazard; (6) responsibility for carrying out soil conservation programs; (7) how the lease is to be terminated in case of death; and (8) how disputes about running the farm or other matters should be settled.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of crop sharing?

The advantages of the first are that the tenant in many cases is free to manage the farm as he pleases, and as a long-time proposition he may pay less rent than under crop-sharing arrangements. The chief disadvantage is that the tenant agrees to pay a definite sum before he knows what his income will be.

Is livestock sharing a good arrangement?

The livestock-sharing lease may turn out to be a happy arrangement. A common method provides for joint ownership of the basic herd, with tenant and landlord sharing expenses and returns. Thus both are interested in the success of the business and both contribute what they can in capital to keep the buildings and fields in good condition.

Can a county agricultural agent give an opinion?

Here too it is best to get impartial advice from local people. In some instances the county agricultural agent may offer an opinion. The customs and rates in the community should be a guide.

Is a crop sharing lease good?

The crop-sharing lease is usually workable only in strictly cash-crop farming. The tenant gets part of the returns. Where these are relatively high, as on many Northern farms in good years, it is a fairly satisfactory type of tenancy.

What happens if you let a farmer do a profit share?

Your risk in leasing is that if you let the farmer do a profit share he may not see a profit, and you won’t get paid. If you charge him upfront you will guarantee that you get paid, but you may also take such a large cut of the profits that the farmer will still fail and you will not have a tenant next year. The goal is for you both to be successful.

Why are landlords overcharging hemp farmers?

Some landlords are overcharging hemp farmers to lease their land because last year farmers were making $80k per acre. Landlords even now are trying to charge $10k per acre or more. What they fail to realize is that the price for hemp products is crashing as production increases but demand stays relatively level. Many farmers are losing money this year and the ones who aren’t are only making grossing $20k per acre or less.

Why do farmers form cooperatives?

Farmers must form co operatives to help in marketing so that there is a coordinated approach to marketing their produce with a view to procuring a better price. The cooperatives must also keep tag of market demand and advise the farmers on what crops to grow and when so that there is’nt excessive production of any particular crop which will result in depreciated prices. These cooperatives can be formed by the farmers themselves or they may be helped by NGOs’ or the govt. itself can help to form them without later interfering in their functioning.

How do cooperatives help farmers?

These cooperatives can help in purchase of farm inputs for sale to farmers at fair and reasonable prices and also help and guide farmers to purchase and use machinery in farming so that productivity can be improved. Purchase of farming equipment and hiring it out to small farmers will help in mitigating the shortage of labour being experienced by a lot of farmers.

Do tenant farmers still work?

Yes there are still tenant farmers, especially in the southeast where traditions have a hard time going away! More of them are white than black now and there are various arrangements, some can be quite lucrative. They all work on shares which means that the landowner will provide certain inputs and the tenant puts up certain things. Then depending on the agreement, when the crop gets sold, the shares are settled. This can be tough if it is a bad year weather wise. It also can tie the hands of...

Is farming ruthless?

Farming is uncertain at its best and downright ruthless at its worst. There are many factors which should click just right to get the perfect yield.

Do tenant farmers exist?

Yes, tenant farmers exists. What are their lives like? That depends on the region of the world. In the USA, about half of the farmland is rented by owners to farm operators. Some of those rent for cash and some rent for a share of the crop. Either way, in the USA, tenant farmers can do quite well, even living better than their average non-farm family counterparts.

Who said the tenant is interested only in the crop he is raising and makes no effort to keep up the fertility of?

Economist Matthew B. Hammond noted, 'The tenant is interested only in the crop he is raising, and makes no effort to keep up the fertility of the land.'. This requirement also kept sharecroppers and tenants from growing their own food, thus keeping them in debt to the landlord for sustenance.

What was the labor system of the small farmers?

These small farmers didn't own any land, so they were forced into labor systems called sharecropping and tenant farming. They paid the landlord - often through a portion of the crop they raised - to use his land. Sharecroppers and tenants rarely broke out of this system to become landowners themselves.

What was the most widespread system of agricultural labor in the postwar South?

This pulled tenant farmers into a similar cycle of dependency that afflicted croppers in the South. Sharecropping and tenant farming were the most widespread systems of agricultural labor in the postwar South. By 1900, the region had around 2.6 million farms, and croppers or tenants worked half.

How did sharecroppers become landowners?

Sharecroppers rarely were able to work their way up to become landowners themselves and were stuck in a cycle of dependency. Since the landlord demanded payment immediately after crops were sold, this left the cropper with little cash. Furthermore, because the cropper had put to up future crops for collateral, this bound him in debt to the local merchant. The inability of sharecroppers to grow their own food also made them dependent on the landlord or merchant for sustenance. And credit rates were always high in mostly isolated and rural areas of the South where sharecropping predominated. Finally, if cotton prices were low, which they increasingly were throughout the late 19th century, the sharecropper started the next season already in debt. It was extremely difficult for a cropper to break out of this cycle of dependency.

Why did the sharecropper demand half of the crop yield?

The landowner demanded around half of the crop yield (usually cotton) in exchange for rent. But because the landowner provided the sharecropper with seeds, beasts of burden, farm tools, housing, and food, he often claimed a larger share.

How did sharecropping help slaves?

For planters, it was a way to resume agricultural production, as large plantations were turned into individual family plots. For former slaves, it moved away from the gang labor system and freed them from the constant supervision of white overseers.

What happened to the plantation economy after the Civil War?

Since the Civil War ended slavery, all the money that was invested in slaves was wiped out. The plantation economy - huge farms producing cotton or tobacco or rice based on forced labor - was destroyed. In this vacuum developed two new labor systems: sharecropping and tenant farming.

image

Overview

A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying amounts of capital and management. Depending on the contract, tenants can make payments to the owner either of a fixed portion of the product, in cash or in a …

England and Wales

Historically, rural society utilised a three tier structure of landowners (nobility, gentry, yeomanry), tenant farmers, and farmworkers. Originally, tenant farmers were known as peasants. Under Anglo-Norman law almost all tenants were bonded to the land, and were therefore also villeins, but after the labour shortage occasioned by the Black Death in the mid 14th century, the number of free tenants substantially increased. Many tenant farmers became affluent and socially well connect…

Canada

From the Nineteenth Century on, tenant farming immigrants came to Canada not just from the British Isles but also the United States of America.

Ireland

Until about 1900, the majority of Ireland was held by landlords, as much as 97% in 1870, and rented out to tenant farmers who had to pay rent to landlords and taxes to the Church of Ireland and State. The majority of the people had no access to land. 1.5% of the population owned 33.7% of the island, and 50% of the country was in the hands of only 750 families. Absenteeism was common and detrimental to the country's progress. Tenants often sub-rented small plots on a ye…

Japan

In Japan, landowners turned over their land to families of tenant farmers to manage. During the Meiji period, Japanese tenant farmers were traditionally cultivators rather than capitalistic or entrepreneurial venture by nature, paid in kind for their labors. Approximately 30% of land was held by tenants. Many aspects of Tokugawa feudalism continued. After WWII, the Farm Land Reform Law of 1946 banned absentee landlordism, re-distributing land and permitted tenants to …

Scandinavia

Historically, despite being part of the Scandinavian unions , the countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway had differing approaches to land tenure.
A tenant farmer in Norway was known as a husmann (plural: husmenn) and were most common in the mid-19th century when they constituted around one-quarter of the country's population. Heavy demands were placed on these tena…

Scotland

Scotland has its own independent legal system and the legislation there differs from that of England and Wales. Neither the AHA 1986 nor the ATA 1995 applies in Scotland. The relevant legislation for Scotland is rather the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 with the following amendments in The Public Services Reform (Agricultural Holdings) (Scotland) Order 2011, The Agricultural Holdings (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2012 and The Agricultural Holdings (Scotlan…

United States

Tenant farming has been important in the US from the 1870s to the present. Tenants typically bring their own tools and animals. To that extent it is distinguished from being a sharecropper, which is a tenant farmer who usually provides no capital and pays fees with crops.
A hired hand is an agricultural employee even though he or she may live on the premises and exercise a considerable amount of control over the agricultural work, such as a foreman. A shar…

1.tenant farming | agriculture | Britannica

Url:https://www.britannica.com/topic/tenant-farming

8 hours ago tenant farming, agricultural system in which landowners contribute their land and a measure of operating capital and management while tenants contribute their labour with various amounts of capital and management, the returns being shared in a variety of ways. Payment to the owner may be in the form of a share in the product, or in cash, or in a combination of both.

2.Tenant farmer - Wikipedia

Url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenant_farmer

23 hours ago Tenant farmers rent or lease land and contribute their labor to the production of crops. In exchange, landowners contribute capital and management. The benefit of such an arrangement is the landowner receives profits from the land in the form of rent, and the tenant farmer is able to rear crops on land they may not have the money to purchase.

3.What is a Tenant Farmer? - Definition from the …

Url:https://www.myattorneyhome.com/Glossary/tenant-farmer

18 hours ago What did a tenant farmer do? Tenant farming is a system of agriculture whereby farmers cultivate crops or raise livestock on rented lands. A tenant farmer typically could buy or owned all that he needed to cultivate crops; he lacked the land to farm.

4.How Does Tenant Farming Work? | AHA

Url:https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/em-35-shall-i-take-up-farming-(1945)/how-does-tenant-farming-work

14 hours ago All farm leases should contain definite arrangements for (1) keeping the farm and buildings in good condition; (2) the general plan of farming; (3) contributions by each party to operating expenses; (4) making repairs (generally the landlord provides the materials and the tenant the labor) ; (5) provision for replacing buildings destroyed by fire, storm, or other hazard; (6) …

5.Tenant farmer Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Url:https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenant%20farmer

27 hours ago  · Definition of tenant farmer. : a farmer who works land owned by another and pays rent either in cash or in shares of produce.

6.Are there tenant farmers today? What are their lives like?

Url:https://www.quora.com/Are-there-tenant-farmers-today-What-are-their-lives-like

19 hours ago Tenant farming began with the farmer using mules or horses to pull the implements needed to plant or cultivate the crops. The tenant farmers I knew all began with one mule. One mule was sufficient to farm around a twenty acre farm and this was about the size of most of them. Where I was born was an eighteen acre farm of cleared land, and woods.

7.Sharecropping and Tenant Farming - Study.com

Url:https://study.com/academy/lesson/sharecropping-and-tenant-farming-definition-overview.html

3 hours ago Tenant farming is any farming done by a farmer who leases rather than owns the land. Tenant farming is not the same as share cropping although the terms are often mistaken. Share cropping is a form of tenant farming where a tenant does not pay a lease fee but rather shares the profit from the crop when it is harvested and sold with the landlord.

8.In chapter 9, what do the tenant farmers do with their …

Url:https://brainly.com/question/4891844

21 hours ago  · The second labor system, tenant farming, also required farmers to work someone else's land and pay rent with a portion of the crop yield. But the tenants usually at least owned a small home, farm ...

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9