In different countries, multiple people with a lot of money and power owned land where they could easily produce agricultural content for sale and support the country’s economy.
The disadvantage of history is that these landowners or landlords were not workers for these lands; for that reason, they did not use the lands that could be very fruitful.
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What was done with the unused land?
After many years of abandonment and a lot of pressure from the government on the landowners, they began to put them to work with farmers to provide labor. But many decided to start leasing their land to tenant farmers. Based on contracts, farmers paid rent to landlords and, in return, used their land for planting and harvesting.
At first, they were rented at high costs because “they were making a profit from their land.” But then, little by little, they began to exchange the rental payment for percentages of their farming profits.
Because of this, it became unprofitable for many farmers to plant and harvest crops on land they did not own. For this reason, they opted to abandon much of their land, leaving it desolate.
How did they begin to be used?
The leasing era began in 1870. By that time, most farmers had their tools and animals. But used them only for cotton harvesting due to the explosion of cotton to the market.
Little by little, the amount of leased land in the country began to increase, generating greater labor exploitation without profit from the lessors.
After having gone through all the processes of labor exploitation, coupled with rental payment, the situation began to become more serious because the abuse by racism was greater. Sharecropping is known to be the free use of land by a landlord to the farm laborer, with the condition that the landlord gives him a percentage of everything he produces every month.
Throwing to the ground the few incomes of the workers and agricultural personnel, they now had to cancel a large percentage of everything they managed to sell.
The beginning of sharecropping was a hard blow for all the farmers who lived solely on it. Every day the amount of money coming into their pockets was less and less, and their farm was falling apart.
What are a tenant farmer’s contracts like?
Due to multiple factors, farmers who went through a purely leasing process received contracts that were negative for them, where the lessor was the one who benefited. They could easily increase the lease price if it were to their liking, without anticipation. In addition, at any whim, they could be expelled from the farm without notice.
In some cases, there were reports of violence towards tenants and bad behavior. But, because these lands were far from everything, no law would work properly. In addition, payments were in cash only, and in the towns where these farms belonged, there was only a small community bank that never had cash or very little.
And even if they had contracts in place for a year or more, the landlord would take you off the farm by force if he wanted to, and there wasn’t much to do.
Do leased farms still exist?
The answer is yes, but due to a lot of work and new laws, life is a little easier on these farms, although it doesn’t mean it’s easy because farming is very hard and difficult.
Although the contracts are better, due to the notable decrease in the number of bunches and the use of power, it is not far that, being very few farms leased, there are not too many laws that appeal.
What about the farms that were abandoned?
Due to the aforementioned bad situation of the leased farms, many farmers decided to abandon their houses, as it was impossible for them to afford to continue living and working there. The owner left some lands, verbally and physically abused his tenants, and then abandoned them.
As a result, most abandoned farms have been falling apart, crumbling and rotting all kinds of food. In turn, if any animals are left, they have probably died as well. In turn, all that was left of crops as food for thousands of farm pests that, having no one to protect them, each pest would make anything from their food.
If there were domestic animals left, they would have likely gone feral because of the circumstances, eating the food reserves and feeding on pest animals, such as mice or cockroaches.
What if the landlord also abandons his land?
The government is aware if no one can claim or wishes to claim it. The State has the possibility of reclaiming that land and using it for national production purposes. It can also relocate it to a farmworker with the qualifications to help. The land will belong to the State, and the farmer will be a State worker.
But the advantage is that being a government worker, you will obtain multiple benefits, and you will not be able to be evicted without a legal procedure that covers your jurisdiction.
At the same time, you will not have to pay monthly fees since you only work for the State, and they provide you with housing where you can sleep and store everything related to your work.
Writer and content creator interested in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Jobs and landlord issues. I have a bachelor’s degree in Communication from the Andrés Bello Catholic University, VE, and I also studied at Chatham University, USA. In this blog I write and collect information of interest around agreements, property and mortgage.