ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the rise of inequality in the distribution of farmland that followed a sharp drop in farm property tax rates after 1930. It shows cross-sectional analysis, a positive relationship between higher property tax rates and more intensive use of farmland, which in turn is associated with more equal distribution of farmland. The chapter provides property tax relief associated with under- use and under improvement of land. The findings seem to show, therefore, a stronger counter effect, proincentive and prosubdivision, of the other part of the property tax, the part based on land value. A result of rising concentration is the separation of land from capital. With some exaggeration, American latifundia are lands without buildings, but buildings are clustered on smaller farms, many without enough land. Irrigated land is generally flatter, lower, and warmer; in addition, the water supply itself is an easement over more land.
