The Largest Land Transfer in American History Is Quietly Deciding Where Hunters Can Hunt

October 1, 2026

HLRBO Says a Combination of Crop Leasing and Hunting Leasing Offers a Viable Option to Selling for Families Who Want to Hold On to the Land

Minneapolis, MN (October 1, 2026) /OUTDOOR SPORTSWIRE/ – More than 40 percent of American agricultural land, some 150 million acres, is expected to change hands at least once in the next 10 to 20 years, according to American Farmland Trust. The ag industry calls it a succession problem. For everyone who hunts on private land, many on handshake agreements, HLRBO urges formalizing lease agreements now to ensure future access.

HLRBO (Hunting Land Rentals By Owner) is a leading marketplace connecting landowners with hunters seeking private-land access. It now has 14,000 paying subscribers, 225,000 total users, and 1.7 million acres of land leases on its platform across all 50 U.S. states and Canada.

“The argument is straightforward,” said Heath Schubert, CEO and cofounder. “The biggest force reshaping hunting access in America over the next two decades is not a regulation, a court ruling, or an app. It is probate.”

The transfer is not just coming, it is underway, according to Paul Schadegg, president of Farmers National Company, one of the country’s largest farm management firms. The owners are old, and the heirs live in town. “At the core of this transition is an aging landowner base,” Schadegg says. “The average U.S. producer is now over 58 years old, and a significant portion of farmland is owned by individuals aged 65 and older.”

The heirs are a different population entirely. Fewer of them farm, more of them live in cities, and by farm lender AgAmerica’s analysis, less than half of retirement-age farmers expect to pass the operation to a family member who will run it. Schadegg expects the transition to bring more institutional ownership, and some heirs who keep the family land without ever farming it themselves.

“That last group is the future of a very large share of American hunting ground,” said HLRBO’s Schubert. Most of this land will never hit a listing site. According to the USDA, nearly 39 percent of U.S. agricultural land in rented hands already, he said — much of it owned by non-operating landlords, a meaningful share of which are 70+. “When they die, the ground does not go to auction,” said Schubert. “It goes to the kids, often without a plan, and sometimes with tax bills and sibling disagreements attached. And those kids may live three states away, may have never walked the back forty, and owe the hunter nothing. But property taxes are due every year whether they visit or not.”

What’s a reasonable option? This is where the aforementioned Paul Schadegg of Farmers National Company asserted recently in an interview that leasing could be an option for families that want to hold onto the property, without farming it. A hunting lease does not replace crop rent, but it is additional income on top of it. And it’s on acres the row-crop tenant is not paying for anyway – “the timber, the draws, the creek bottom, the odd corners,” said HLRBO’s Schubert. “For an heir in the city, leasing can be the difference between the family farm as a liability with a tax bill and the family farm as an asset that covers its own carrying costs.”

Recreational lease income may be small next to appreciation or a sale, of course. “What it changes is the holding decision,” said Schubert. “Land that pays for its own taxes and insurance is land a family can afford to keep while they decide — and while they decide is often measured in decades.”

One hundred fifty million acres are going to move. The families who keep theirs will mostly be the ones whose land was already paying its way. For landowners and heirs weighing what their acres can earn while staying in the family, HLRBO connects that ground with hunters nationwide, with verification, real lease agreements, and secure payments behind every booking. To list your property, or to learn how leases work, please visit HLRBO’s website.

ABOUT HLRBO:

HLRBO (Hunting Land Rentals By Owner) is the premier online marketplace for hunting leases, connecting private landowners with vetted hunters across the U.S. and Canada. Founded in 2015 in Brainerd MN, HLRBO serves a community of more than 225,000 users with tools for listing, discovery, secure payments, legal agreements, and integrated insurance — making it easier than ever to find the right land, or the right hunter, for any season. More at HLRBO’s blog: https://www.hlrbo.com/news.

Media Contact:

Graeme Thickins
For HLRBO
graemethickins@gmail.com
612-867-4055