While I grew up on a farm and I own some farmland, I really don’t know anything about farming and I don’t have a clue what is happening on the ground I do own.

I am not alone. Purdue University just put out a press release that about 39 percent of U.S. farmland is rented, and 80 percent of those acres are owned by non-operating landowners, which are defined as owners who do not farm the land they own. That’s me.

My two brothers and I own about 300 acres. I have absolutely no idea what happens on those acres. All I know is I get a check twice a year from the farm ground rental and another check twice a year from someone who hunts on our acreage.

We also have the timberland set up with a timber company and occasionally there are tree harvests, although those are rare, as we wanted our timber to stay as a resource for hiking and habitat, versus harvesting any trees that were worth money. That decision was one of the only ones I helped make for our land. My brothers and I met with the timber management firm and I was adamant that I wanted our forestland to look like a forest.

One of my brothers bought a small section and built a home for his family and the other brother lives on 17 acres that originally were part of my parents’ home and acreage. Both properties adjoin the land we own together. I live 2.5 hours away from our land.

It is just far enough that visiting and using the land isn’t convenient. I would love to take my dogs hiking, but with five hours of drive time in a day, it means going for a one-hour hike isn’t very convenient.

I made it home the Sunday after Thanksgiving for the annual Swaim gathering, and I did take my dogs with me and we went for a short hike after lunch. Of course since we lease hunting rights, I have to keep that in mind if I want to go over, as it would be bad to be shot hiking on my own property.

During mushroom-hunting season I do try to make it home at least once, but again, since mushrooms don’t pop up on my schedule I have to wait until my brother Andy lets me know they are up, and then I have to see if I can find the time to drive over before it is too late.

Over the years, my brothers and I have talked of selling some or all of the acreage, but we can’t bring ourselves to do it. Even though I don’t utilize the land like I wish I did, the thought of it being there makes me happy. And if I do ever win the lottery, I already know exactly where my house will go and what it will look like.

The Purdue study talked about how conservation efforts are more difficult in situations where the landowner is removed from the land he or she owns. Findings from The Nature Conservancy and Purdue team, published in the journal Land Use Policy, identified barriers to conservation that exist with non-operating landowners, including those pertaining to cash-rent lease terms; the rental market dynamics; information deficit/asymmetry; cognitive/interpersonal; and barriers pertaining to financial motivations.

“Up until our study, there was no synthesis as to what the big-picture barriers were that we need to look at more closely,” said Pranay Ranjan, a post-doctoral researcher at Purdue who led the study. “And while there were several, it appears that communication is the starting point to take care of many of the information deficits, to create level ground between the operator and the landowner.”

One issue is that conservation practices can take 3-5 years to show benefits. Some landowners have yearly leases with their farmers. Landowners may be so far removed from their land that they do not understand the importance of conservation efforts, and the person farming the land may not have the incentive to do projects since it is not his or her ground.

How to reach the landowners is also a concern. Farmers know about conservation efforts and Purdue knows how to reach farmers. But how to reach the landowners is another matter altogether.

Ranjan said the paper’s authors had several recommendations to address lease barriers, such as encouraging landowners to be more flexible with lease terms offering multi-year leases to ease the insecurity felt by operators, and incorporating proration into leases to safeguard operators’ conservation investments should their lease be terminated.

 I sent the article to my brothers and am waiting to find out what that they know about our conservation practices – if we even have any.

While I might not use the land like I wish I did, I want it to be there for my nieces and nephews should they decide to make it their home or part of their livelihood. I want to be a good steward of the earth, which means I need to be more informed about what is going on with that land.

I only make it back to Parke County a few times a year. So, I don’t know what crops are being planted on the land that I own or what conservation practices may be in place.