Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 38b-39a

It has been stated: If a man is taken captive, Rav said: His next of kin is not authorised to enter upon his estate [i.e. to plant and farm his land]; Samuel said: His next of kin is authorised to enter into his estate. Now, if it was heard that he was dead, all agree that he is authorised to enter. They differ where it was not heard that he had died: Rab said: We do not authorise him to enter, lest he cause them [the fields] to deteriorate; but Samuel said: We authorise him to take possession, for since a Master said, ‘We value it for them as for an tenant farmer’ [i.e. we assume that he will care about the land as much as a tenant farmer would], he will not permit deterioration. ...the Rabbis enacted a measure on his behalf [of the captive], so that he [the tenant] might not cause them [the abandoned land of the estate] to deteriorate. [translation adapted from Judaic Classics Library translation]