Farmland bank contracts to be streamlined from next week as 'shadow farmers' issue addressed

Farmers who previously had to visit multiple agencies to use the farmland bank will soon face far less hassle. The government will streamline farmland bank contract procedures starting Oct. 21 and allow farmers to handle agricultural management entity registration changes in a single visit. It will also move to protect the rights of so-called "shadow farmers" — those who work the land but cannot receive direct payments because they lack formal lease contracts.

Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Song Mi-ryung held a meeting with village heads and farmers at the Hamyang-gun Office in South Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday, outlining plans to improve farmland bank operations and reform the broader farmland system.

"During the farmland survey, we found quite a few people who are actually farming but not receiving direct payments," Song said, adding that the ministry would reform the system so that actual cultivators can have their rights recognized and receive agricultural support benefits.

Complaints about the complexity of lease contract procedures were raised at the meeting. Yi Chung-hui, chair of the village heads' council in Yurim-myeon, pointed to restrictions on leasing farmland acquired after 1996 and described cases where actual farmers were unable to receive government support due to contract issues despite working the land.

Participants also raised the inconvenience of having to travel to other areas to use the farmland bank. Park Jeong-yeong, chair of the village heads' council in Byeonggok-myeon, said that processing a lease contract at the local branch in Hamyang takes about a week, while a direct visit to the main office in Geochang takes only around 10 minutes, and called for the procedures to be simplified.

In response, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to reduce the paperwork required to use the farmland bank and allow all related procedures to be handled with just an identification card. Kim Ki-hwan, head of the ministry's farmland division, said the integrated processing of farmland bank lease entrustment and agricultural management entity change applications would take effect Oct. 21.

The ministry is also working to automatically share agricultural management entity update information between agencies. Kim Cheol, head of the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, said that starting in November, when a lease contract is changed through the Korea Rural Community Corporation, the relevant information will be automatically transmitted to the agency so that farmers will not need to make a separate visit to update their records.

The range of land eligible for farmland bank purchases is also expected to expand. Participants noted that Hamyang's terrain — characterized by landlocked plots and steep slopes — makes it difficult for farmers to sell their land under a purchase policy focused on high-quality farmland.

Song said the ministry would review expanding the scope of purchases beyond prime farmland and consider factors such as local conditions and the potential for young and full-time farmers to scale up their operations, rather than relying solely on the order in which applications are received. The ministry also plans to seek additional budget to reduce the backlog of farmland bank purchases and farmland pension applications.

"Sellers want to sell high, and buyers want to buy low — there is a gap," Song said. "I think bridging that gap is important. Connecting the generations matters." She added that the ministry would work to ensure farmland can circulate more smoothly.