In the majority of cases, poorer soil drainage, more gully erosion, ponding and loss of organic matter are found to be inherent characteristics of the rental parcels. Evidence also exists to suggest that flooding tends to occur more frequently on the rented land. Operator-owned lands tend to be more stony and consists of shallower soils than the rented land. Few differences in annual crop and soil management practices are found. Manure application is observed to occur more frequently on owned land.
Contour planting is observed to occur more frequently on rented land.
Overall there is no difference in the incidence of erosion control and compaction correction practices between owner and rented land. Frequency of stone picking does not differ significantly with respect to land tenure. Neither does continuous cropping of corn and beans. Differences in the employment of durable soil inputs between operator-owned and rented land are observed. Significantly more tile drainage and installation of wind breaks would be done the more certain land tenure is.