To determine the amount and location of corporate-owned farm land and to consider the bearing of corporate land on tenancy and land ownership questions are the purposes of this bulletin.

In January, 1937, 11.2 percent of the farm land in Iowa was owned by corporations. Since most of this land, owned as it is by mortgage lending agencies, is available for immediate purchase, an unusual opportunity to buy a farm is provided the tenant farmer. This raises a fundamental question: Is the present a favorable time for a tenant to buy? A discussion of this point will be found in the last section of this report.

In the sale of corporate farms, particularly in their sale to tenants with a small down payment, a grave responsibility rests on those who place a valuation on the land. Better appraisals are needed. This is indicated by the concentration of corporate holdings in certain sections of the state. Certainly it would be a tragedy of the first order if past mistakes in appraisal and lending were repeated in the sale of this corporate land to a new group of buyers.