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Start-Up Spotlight: Tillable — How Its Farmland Rental Marketplace Worked

Tillable was a digital farmland rental marketplace with a lease model that placed the company between landowners and farmers. Here is how its reported services worked and what historical coverage does—and does not—establish.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Tillable was presented as a digital marketplace that helped farmland owners find renters and farmers find acreage. Its historical model also included a lease in which Tillable stood between the owner and the farmer, plus financing and sustainability-related services reported later. The available reporting is from 2019 and 2021; it does not establish whether Tillable or those services are operating today.

What was Tillable?

Founded in 2017 by Corbett Kull and Jim Pines, Tillable set out to connect landowners seeking to rent farmland with farmers looking for ground. Successful Farming reported in September 2019 that the company had 7,000 farmer and landowner accounts and 50,000 acres listed. Those are figures from that report, not current metrics.

The problem Tillable aimed to address was the difficulty of finding available land and evaluating rental opportunities. Kull’s founding perspective included a friend who inherited farmland and was unsure whether the tenant or rent was appropriate. That is a founder’s anecdote, not a measured finding about the farmland market.

How did Tillable’s farmland marketplace work?

Farmers could create profiles describing their experience, operation size, goals, tillage practices, and machinery. They could receive alerts for matching listings and submit offers. The offers were described as blind: competing farmers could not see one another’s bids, and the highest offer did not automatically win. Tillable screened prospective renters, after which the parties could negotiate final details.

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This made the marketplace a screened matching process rather than a straightforward auction. Its stated purpose was to help owners find a suitable renter and farmers discover land that met their needs.

What was the Hassle-Free Lease?

In the 2019 description, an owner leased land to Tillable for one or three years. Tillable then found a farmer to operate it or continued with an existing renter. The service was slated to begin with the 2020 growing season.

Because Tillable leased the land from the owner and arranged the farmer separately, it sat between the two parties. The company paid the landowner for the lease term and collected farm-performance information from the farmer to report to the owner. This structure differed from a marketplace arrangement in which the owner and farmer dealt directly.

How did the historical models differ?

The following comparison reflects descriptions published in 2019, not current product options or terms.

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Question Marketplace Hassle-Free Lease
Who contracted with the landowner? The owner and farmer arranged a lease through the marketplace. The owner leased the land to Tillable.
Who found or selected the farmer? Tillable screened offers; the highest bid did not automatically win. The parties could negotiate final details. Tillable found a farmer or continued with an existing renter.
When was the landowner paid? Not stated in the 2019 report. Tillable paid the owner for the agreed lease term.
Who reported farm performance? Not stated in the 2019 report. Tillable collected performance information from the farmer and reported it to the owner.
What fees or revenue were reported? The 2019 report said farmers could browse and make offers for free, then paid a fee equal to 2% of gross rent per year after signing a lease through Tillable. Tillable’s margin varied by farm and was broadly the difference between what it paid the owner and what the farmer paid it. The report described a fee waiver when an owner using this lease already had a preferred farmer.

What other services did Tillable report?

Tillable Finance

A 2021 Successful Farming report described Tillable Finance as an online application process that paired eligible borrowers with a participating lender. The lender—not Tillable—set the terms and decided whether to approve an application. At that time, the service was reported as available in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, with expansion planned.

The same article advertised interest rates as low as 3.5% without a mortgage and forecast that the service would facilitate more than $100 million in farmer financing through midyear 2022. Those were historical claims and a forecast, respectively; the reporting does not establish the rate or whether the forecast was achieved.

Sustainable Flex Lease

The 2021 report also described Sustainable Flex Lease as a way for landowners and farmers to agree on and monitor sustainable practices, report farm activity, and potentially connect lease payments to performance details or carbon-credit program enrollment. Its stated initial intended service area was Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota. These were launch plans reported at the time, not confirmation of present availability.

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Is Tillable still operating?

The available reports do not establish whether Tillable remains active or whether its marketplace, leases, financing, and sustainability services are still available. They also do not verify current fees, service areas, or lender terms. Anyone considering a service under this name should confirm directly that it is operational and obtain current written terms before sharing information, applying for financing, or entering a lease.

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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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