A new Iowa State University Extension survey finds much of Iowa’s 30 million acres of farmland doesn’t change hands very often. Iowa State University economist Wendong Zhang conducted the 2017 survey.

Another key finding in the survey is that 82 percent of the owners have paid off the land. Zhang says the amount of debt-free farmland impacts values.

The survey found 20 percent of farmland was owned by the same person for at least 40 years and 55 percent of the land was owned by the same person for more than 20 years.

The state started requiring a survey of who owns Iowa farmland every five years beginning in 1949.