What are the "six fears and six worries" farmers have about land transfer?

With the advancement of urbanization, young and middle-aged people in rural areas are finding jobs that suit them in cities and enterprises, and farmland is more often managed by the elderly left behind. This "elderly farming" situation has objectively accelerated the process of rural land transfer. The author, in Zaoyang City, Hubei Province, which has won the national advanced unit for grain production for five consecutive years, visited and listened to the voices of farmers. Farmers have great expectations for land transfer, but at the same time also have "six fears and six worries."

First fear: private transfer without an agreement, worrying that oral promises will lead to disputes. In some places, because of their remote location, there is no larger company to transfer land management rights as a whole; there are only short-term arrangements between households, with oral agreements and no clear provisions on the transfer period or the scope of transferred operations. After the land is transferred, some arbitrarily change the land use and cause dissatisfaction; some have just invested in the land, but the transferring party wants to take it back, and the resulting conflicts and disputes are too numerous to count.

Second fear: the transferring company has no strength, worrying that the transfer fees are not guaranteed. In recent years, a large amount of capital has gone to the countryside for land transfer. Some large companies have abundant funds and local government support, so farmers are relatively reassured. But some transferring parties are just nearby or local farmers with ordinary strength, and some are established in the form of cooperatives; their purpose in transferring land is to use the land as capital to apply for projects and obtain loans. For such transfers, farmers worry that after the land is transferred, the transfer fees will be difficult to pay.

Third fear: transferred land changes use, worrying that grain subsidies will not be paid. Some transferred land is used to plant fruit trees or dig fish ponds, and farmers worry that if wheat, corn, rice and other conventional crops are not planted, what will happen if the "direct grain subsidy" is not paid?

Fourth fear: after land transfer there is nothing to do, worrying that there is no guarantee of a source of livelihood. This situation mainly involves farmers who make a living by farming, aged between 50 and 65, who are no longer wanted for work outside. Giving the fields to others to farm, first, leaves a sense of emptiness in their hearts, and second, the transfer fee of about 500 yuan per mu per year is too little; if they casually farm it themselves, they can also earn over a thousand yuan per mu.

Fifth fear: transferred land is mortgaged, worrying that the transferred land will be confiscated. After land is transferred by enterprises, farmers worry that these enterprises do not mainly farm, but instead covertly enclose land, build farmsteads, set up breeding farms, then apply to higher authorities for projects and use this as collateral to apply to banks for loans. Farmers worry that if the transferring enterprise goes bankrupt or is poorly managed, the mortgaged land will be confiscated by the bank or creditors, and where will farmers go to seek justice.

Sixth fear: the transfer period is too long, worrying that it will be difficult to recover the land when the transfer expires. When both parties sign a contract, the term is generally more than 10 years, and farmers worry that the transfer time is too long and that after expiration it will be difficult to recover management rights. Some transferring parties build houses and plant valuable trees on the transferred land, and their value is difficult to calculate. If the contract expires, the transferring party is unwilling to withdraw for various reasons such as operating losses, compensation for demolition of buildings, and compensation for relocating trees, and farmers, as a disadvantaged group, find it hard to get a fair hearing.