A government survey has found that there are more than 23.7 million acres of farmland rented out by landlords in Kansas.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported the number Monday in its first survey of landowners since 1999.

Their survey, conducted last year, also found that there are 83,776 landlords owned farmland in Kansas. But only 14,359 of those were actually farmers, the majority of them are non-farming landlords.

Cropland made up for 65 percent of all farmland rented, while 33 percent was rented for pastures. The rest of the land was used for forests and other uses.

The agency also reported that landowners expect to transfer 5.04 million acres to other owners in the next five years.