As the population increases, people tend to shift their agricultural pattern from ranching to farming, which consists of several different systems. Sharecropping and tenant farming are two of the traditional farming systems where the difference is based on the pattern of payments. Both systems have two significant characters, namely the landowner and the tenant. Sharecropping can be identified as a branch of tenant farming, but based on the payments, these systems vary to each other. This article describes both the systems, their similarities, and differences between them.
Key Takeaways
- Sharecropping is a traditional cropping system that involves landowners and farmers, where the farmer cultivates the land and the yield is divided between both parties.
- Tenant farming is a system where the farmer lives on and cultivates another person’s land, receiving payment in various forms depending on the landowner’s rules.
- The main difference between the two systems is the payment structure and the distribution of risk between the landowner and the tenant.
What is Sharecropping?
Sharecropping is one of the traditional cropping systems that engage with both landowners and farmers resources. In this cropping system, the landowner gives his own land to any other farmers for a decided period. The responsibility of the farmer is to cultivate the land and engage with all the management practices of the cultivation. Finally, the yield obtained should be divided between both the farmer and the landowner. The proportion the landowner receives is pre-decided. Normally it ranges between 40 to 60 percent. In this case, both the farmer and the owner are taking the risk of harvest. The amount of harvest and all other fluctuations, including the price, will directly affect both the shares. Sharecropping has a long history and later it developed into various systems such as fixed tax and fixed crop rent systems.
What is Tenant Farming?
Tenant farming is not totally the sharecropping but having a more diverse meaning than that. The tenant is the farmer who involves in cultivation practices, in another person’s land, by giving him a rent, share, or tax. In the case of tenant farming, the tenant farmer lives in the same place for a given cultivation period. The landowner contributes to the cultivation by giving the land and sometimes providing the capital. The tenant receives the profit in several ways depending on the management rules by the landowner. Some landowners pay the tenant by giving some amount of money, the amount is decided either from the harvest obtained or in a combination. The contract of tenant farming is either signed for a fixed number of years or tenancy at will.
What is the difference between Sharecropping and Tenant Farming?
- Tenants are engaged in both sharecropping and tenant farming.
- In tenant farming, tenants live in the same land and engage in agricultural practices for a given period, and finally, get their payments as money, fixed amount of crop, or in combination.
- In the case of sharecropping, the tenant receives his portion as a share. He has to give a share to the landowner, which is pre-decided.
- In sharecropping both, the tenant and the landowner, take the risk of harvest, while the tenant farming gives the total risk to the tenant, as the landowner receives a fixed amount of crop or a tax for his land.
