Sharecropping 🇺🇸 Then & Now

What is sharecropping?

Sharecropping is a system of landowners and tenant farmers working out a deal.

Sharecroppers farm a landowner’s property and repay them with a portion of the harvest.

The land is owned by the landowner, the labor is done by the sharecropper, and the harvest is somehow divided — sometimes fairly, sometimes not.

Graycare is NOT a lawyer.

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Is sharecropping different from slavery?

The reason you’d have to ask is, our history of sharecropping is closely tied with our history of slavery. In the context of post-slavery American history, sharecroppers were not legally owned, but slaves were legally owned. However, it's not that simple.

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• ‍Sharecropping is a system where people are NOT owned as property. In sharecropping, a sharecropper is a person who is NOT owned by another person or entity. Since a sharecropper chooses to enter a sharecropping contract with a landowner, the sharecropper person has equal human rights as the non-sharecropper person. Once the sharecropper and the tenant are bound by contract however, both parties are legally bound to uphold the contract.

• ‍Slavery is a system where people are owned as property. In slavery, a slave is a person owned by another person or entity. The labor performed by the slave is unpaid. Since a slave is property, the slave person doesn’t have the same human rights as a non-slave person.

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The Unfair History of American Sharecropping

It’s important to remember that American sharecropping was a popular system following the abolishment of slavery in 1865 when the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed and ratified. 

After slavery was abolished, former slaveowners stopped slave labor and started sharecropper labor.

Back then, white people owned almost all the land, and black people owned almost none of the land. White landowners used their sharecropping contracts as a solid passive income source, because the contracts were written unfairly in favor of the landowner, and landed many sharecroppers under insurmountable debt and forced, unpaid labor in the end.

At the turn of the 20th century, about 2/3 of sharecroppers were white, and 1/3 were black. (Source: The History Channel) Once American slavery ended, both white and black sharecroppers got enmeshed in a cycle of debt owed to landowners while sharecropping.

Today, white Americans own 98% of U.S. land, and black Americans own less than 2% of land. (Source: Inequality.org) We got lots of different colored people owning land here, so land ownership is not a perfectly black and white issue.

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Is sharecropping different from tenant farming?

The terms “sharecropping” and “tenant farming” are often used interchangeably to describe early post-slavery America’s farmland rentals.

The terms “tenant farming” and “agricultural/farmland leasing” are often used interchangeably to describe American farmland rentals taking place today.

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Is modern sharecropping any good?

In my opinion, tenant farming of the present is better than sharecropping of the past, but sharecropping of the future could become better than tenant farming of the present.

Human rights are more equal today than in the 1860s-1940s when sharecropping was most popular. If we tried sharecropping again today, Sharecropping could have a comeback!

In the 1800s, cash and crops were the only thing.

Nowadays, cryptocurrency wallets and social media followers are another thing — not to mention agricultural technology that realistically accommodates beginner farmers’ first yield to become a success and enhances expert farmers’ ability to get an awesome yield. 

Not like 19th century Ireland (or other places experiencing hungry famine), our modern American agricultural technology is both affordable and you can buy it at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Menard’s.

With a new set of modern day circumstances, maybe we should give sharecropping another try!

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How America Started Sharecropping

In my opinion, sharecropping was better than slavery, but it still wasn’t the best.

During the late 1800s’ new post-slavery America, sharecropping became a popular way of life.

What’s unfair about sharecropping agreements back then was, landowners owned the land and the crops, until harvest time when landowners paid sharecroppers a share of the crop.

Sharecroppers felt cheated when growing crops on land owned their landlord, but having no control of the crops or how their procurement post-harvest.

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• People without houses could choose between renting and sharecropping.

• People without money to rent a house could choose to enter a sharecropping contract.

• People could compare sharecropping contracts available to them, posted on a sign in town hall, and choose the best one.

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In that way, old days sharecropping wasn’t much different from modern day subsidized housing. The poor demographic couldn’t realistically choose any of the good contracts, such as one that led to landownership was too expensive for the person who ended up sharecropping, or moving somewhere else with better opportunity. (Source: AAIHS, African American Intellectual History Society)

Sharecropping’s popularity fizzled off around the mid-1900s amidst a number of changes, of which the industrial revolution and the civil rights movement are noteworthy. 

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• Owning crops incentivizes a sharecropper to work harder.
• Selling crops on the market protects the sharecropper from the unfair landlord who aims to perpetuate sharecropper debt and poverty.
• Only sharecroppers who fail at farming wind up indebted to the landlord — not much worse than today’s reality of tenants failing to pay rent, getting evicted, and taking on debt.
• The potential upside of modern sharecropping could lead more non-farmers to become new farmers.

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Sharecropping Fairly From Today Forward

The money in modern day sharecropping should come from outside the contract, when the landowner and sharecropper sell their harvest to market together, and split the profits.

Sharecropping landowners and sharecroppers become win-win partners when a bigger, better annual harvest also earns higher dollar profits when sold to market.

It works in the modern day USA! It’s an effective means to make a deal between busy landlords, empty farmland, and poor farmers and start cultivating that unused land, baby!

At harvest, the landowner and sharecropper bump noggins to sell produce at farmer’s markets, to grocery stores, or to other corporations buying agricultural produce in bulk.When the harvest is good, the landowner and sharecropper sell to the outside market for higher profits. When the harvest is bad, the landowner and sharecropper don’t make as much money. In this way we see a well-balanced sharecropping contract agreement hinges upon the outcome of production.

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“Sharecropper Capitalism” is one term carrying a negative connotation about sharecropping. But, remember. You can write a good sharecropping contract, run a good farm, and make a good living.

“Corporate Capitalism” and “Techno-feudalism” are other terms with negative connotations, which means corporate leaders harness wealth, powers, and influence not harnessed by government leaders. (Source: IMD, Institute for Management Development) But, remember. You can sharecrop the piece of land you’re walking on and get in touch with nature. You’ll get used to foul farm smells over time.

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Purdue University emphasizes the importance of clear sharecropper agreements. If I were to design a mutually-beneficial sharecropping contract today, I’d say a better deal looks like this: 

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• The land gets owned by the landowner.
• The crops get owned by the sharecropper.

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Fair and square for the farmer’s sweat in the fields, a sharecropping contract written with both the landowner’s and the sharecropper's best interest would make it a win-win one.

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• Use crops to pay the landowner.
• Use money earned from the crops to pay the landowner.

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The possibilities of modern sharecropping mix old and new, because the sharecropper’s payment to the landowner is even bigger and better when this year’s harvest goes good. As a sharecropper, it’d be nice to know the landowner wants the person farming their land to have a good harvest.

Sharecropping isn’t right for everyone, but I’m certain an American demographic could make something special when they’ll be better off when they do a good job.

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1. Sharecrop for several years in order to master farm production and save a stockpile of money.
2. Build a win-win relationship with your landowner to increase production and profit margins year after year.
3. Either continue sharecropping with your landowner, or buy your own farmland with the money you earned from sharecropping.

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I’m certain a demographic of fine would-be American farmers are currently fizzling away in a townhome built by Starbucks because they’re working a low paid job without much opportunity for upward mobility, except to save up a stockpile of rent money.

Veterans, for example, have military training and skills transferable to the farm and would enjoy driving a skid steer. Veterans would be really good at sharecropping, if there were more good sharecropping contracts around.

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Sharecropping Do’s and Don’t

Sharecropping has gained a bad reputation because of its exploitative American history. Even though slavery was outlawed in America, sharecropping still felt like slavery in many cases.

Please take a lesson from history before you start sharecropping. That go’s for landowners and sharecroppers alike.

Modern day sharecropping shouldn’t feel like slavery! 🗳️ Avoid common sharecropper pitfalls before you sign a contract.

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• The landowner owns the land.
• The sharecropper farms the land.
• In a bad deal, the crops are owned by the landowner.
• In a fair deal, the crops are owned by the sharecropper.
• The sharecropper can pay the landowner with crops.
• Or the sharecropper can pay the landowner with money earned from selling the crops to market.
• In a bad deal, the sharecropper must pay the landowner an arbitrary or predetermined fixed rate over time. Try showing this calculation used to a farmer who’s good at growing plants and raising livestock: Corn Ex: 260bpa x $4.55/bu = $1,183 - $1,000 (trigger) = $183 shared revenue x 35% owner share = $64.05/acre flex payment to the owner + $275 base rent = $339.05/acre total cash rent (Source: Peoples Company)
• In a good deal, the sharecropper must pay the landowner a percentage of the money earned when going to market to sell those crops.
• Be a partner and keep your lil sharecropping operation out of debt and/or poverty with a side of dependency on the landowner.
• Take a laissez-faire approach to farming seeds, feed, tools, equipment, infrastructure, and third-party contractors to get the job done — the contract defines which operational costs will be handled by each party.
• Write clearly in that contract which party is responsible for paying for necessary sharecropping utilities like electricity, gas, and water.
• Avoid indebting your sharecropper and so avoid forcing sharecroppers to work the land.
• Don’t enter a bad contract where the landlord takes too much of the crops or earnings from the crop. Back in the day, sharecroppers got half their harvest swooped away with nothing they could do about it after they signed pen to paper. (Source: New Georgia Encyclopedia)
• Don’t make jokes which liken a sharecropper to a slave.
• You gotta watch out not to become “enslaved” when you enter a bad contract.
• Don’t forget to do taxes.

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Graycare is NOT a lawyer.

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Shall we turn our attention to sharecropping in the State of Michigan?

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All About Michigan Sharecropping

Today in Michigan, about 40% of farmland is leased under a “tenant farming” or "farmland lease agreement”. (Source: Michigan Farm News) You can plan ahead by learning the lay of the land.

The USDA’s local food directory lists plenty of locations around Michigan to find agritourism, community supported agriculture (CSA), farmers markets, on-farm markets, possible sharecroppers, and other food hubs.

MI FarmLink is a website where you can get started sharecropping, tenant farming, or prospecting agricultural lease agreements available in Michigan. List a farm, find a farm, post a property, and get good advice from real Michigan farmers on MI FarmLink.

The Michigan Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program includes several ways for landowners to gain certain tax benefits by participating in programs which preserve the land for environmental and agricultural purposes.

Michigan State University has paired up with the USDA to track the cost of renting farmland in Michigan year over year. Paying a fixed rate per acre isn’t exactly the same as true sharecropping, but it’s good to know the cost of Michigan rental farmland per acre — because it’s a strong benchmark for how much money you need to make per acre in order to run a profitable farming operation.

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• $143.00 per acre to rent Non-Irrigated Cropland in Michigan.
• $264.00 per acre to rend Irrigated Cropland in Michigan.
• $32.00 per acre to rent Pastureland in Michigan.

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🐑🐄🐖🐓🐐🐎🐂🐏🦃 Bingo! It’s cheaper to start farming livestock in Michigan. Can one acre raise good enough livestock to sell at $33?

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Yes, the Michigan DNR does sharecropping!

The Michigan Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) oversees only a handful of hand-selected strategic sharecropping areas, where the primary goals are long-term conservation of Michigan’s natural habitat.

I get the feeling the MIDNR has things under control and wouldn’t appreciate novice farmers sending new age farming proposals to them.

It’s difficult to track down a map of sharecropping locations actively farming with the Michigan DNR. The MIDNR lists several Michigan sharecropping operations, but a comprehensive list isn’t available.

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• Shiawassee River State Game Area near Saginaw.
• Boyle Lake Wildlife Area near Benton Harbor.
• Keeler State Game Area near Benton Harbor.
• Gwinn Forest near Harrison.
• Gourdneck State Game Area near Kalamazoo.
• ‍Allegan State Game Area near Fennville.