More than 80 percent of Iowa’s farmland is owned debt-free, the state’s land ownership base continues to age and more farmland is owned by people who don’t farm than by those who do work the land, according to the preliminary results of the new 2017 Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure survey conducted by Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach.

The ISU survey showed 82 percent of Iowa farmland is owned outright ...