County farm facts

Lincoln County, Colorado

Lincoln County, CO: non-irrigated cash rent $28 an acre (2026); land and buildings $900 an acre in the 2022 census. Bids, weather, crops, land and programs for one county. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 08073. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026; the rows marked with a date load the newest reading when the page opens.

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As of Oct 16, cash rent in Lincoln County runs $28 an acre for 2026, up 16.7% from $24 in 2016 and ranked 9th lowest of 24 in Colorado. The census value of land and buildings was $900 an acre in 2022, up from $704 in 2017, and ranked lowest of 58 in the state. Corn made 71.4 bu in 2025 against a median of 46.6 bu since 2008.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$28/ac
2026 county average
CO median $30 · 9th lowest of 24
Land and buildings
$900/ac
2022: operators' own estimate of what land and buildings were worth · CO farm real estate 2026: $2,360 (land and buildings, state survey)
CO median $2,765 · lowest of 58
Rent as % of land value
n/a
not shown: cropland is 38% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Corn yield, 2008-2025 median
46.6 bu/ac
13 published years, all practices · rent-per-bushel trend withheld: fewer than 6 dryland county yields in the last 15 years, and the all-practice yield is not a substitute: county yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$24.91
2016–2025, closed crop years
CO median $13.79 · 6th highest of 31
Farmland rented
43%
2022 census, rented from others
CO median 30% · 8th highest of 57
Open on the map Compare Colorado cash rent by county

Grain and prices within 50 miles

Corn bid
Soybean bid
Corn basis
Soybean basis
Corn futures
Soybean futures
Hay, Colorado price received

Bids are posted elevator prices within 50 miles of the county middle, or of your own field or saved place in this county when this device has one (each row says which), best and nearest, never a buyer's name. Not a contract; call before you haul. Livestock lines show where the 2022 Census counts 1,000 head or more: milk for milk cows, feeder cattle for beef cows, live cattle for cattle on feed, hogs for hogs, hay for all cattle.

Colorado cash bids by town · Bids from your own ZIP or farm, in Fast Facts

Cash bids by town near the middle of Lincoln County: Flagler (36 mi), Seibert (41 mi).

Weather and the season

Rain since Jan 1
Drought this week
Hail, last 30 days

Rain so far this year in Lincoln County, Colorado

Drought, year by year

2000200520102015202020250380

Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.

D2 or worse for half the county, 2000–2025304 of 1,357 weeks22% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200238 weeks
Last five full years, 2021–202555 weeks
2026 so far11 weekshalf the county or more in D2, 40 weekly maps
July average of daily lows, 2017–202658.6 °F1991–2020 normal 57.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.45 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September, usual11.8 in1991–2020 county normal, NOAA; the 2017–2026 seasons averaged 11.3 in
Days with hail 1 inch or larger5.2 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail
Last spring freeze, first fall freezeMay 11, Oct 10middle dates 1996–2025, NOAA county-average daily low of 32 °F or colder
Frost-free days152middle of 1996–2025
Corn growing degree days, May to September2,634middle of 1996–2025; 2016–2025 averaged 2,675

Crops

Corn harvested
Soybeans harvested

Corn yield

20082010201220142016201820202022202439.073.871.4median 46.6

Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.

Trend for rent per bushelFewer than 6 dryland county yields in the last 15 years, and the all-practice yield is not a substitute: county yield mixes irrigated and dryland acres
2025 county yield71.4 bu/acall practices
Median, 2008–202546.6 bu/ac13 published years
Lowest published year2024: 25.8 bu/ac55% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+0.1 bu/ac a year±2.0 (95% interval)

Land rent, value, sales

Cash rent

$0$10$20$302010201520202025$19$28 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey.

Every published Colorado county rate, side by side: Colorado cash rent by county.

Non-irrigated, 2026$28/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+16.7%nominal, $24 to $28
Pasture, 2026$7/ac
Rent as a share of corn gross, 201612.7%$24 non-irrigated rent 2016 ÷ (55.2 bu, 2016 county yield, dryland × $3.42 Colorado price received)

Share of gross is a past year, all observed: that year's rent, that year's county corn yield of the same practice and the state price received, USDA NASS. Rent per bushel is withheld here: it needs the county trend, and the trend is withheld (see the corn yield section). The calculator below takes your own yield and price.

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$900/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$477/ac
Census 2017$704/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+27.8%+5.0% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census valueCropland is 38% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Colorado cropland, 2026 state survey$2,960/ac+2.8% from 2025 · USDA NASS Land Values, state average
Colorado farm real estate, 2026$2,360/acland and buildings, state average
Colorado pasture, 2026$1,200/acstate average

The census value is this county's, from 2022. The survey figures are the Colorado average for 2026, from the USDA NASS Land Values report. NASS publishes that survey by state, not by county, so this page does not scale one into the other.

Programs and risk

ARC or PLC sign-up

Benchmarks, payments and the choice for each crop: ARC or PLC in Lincoln County.

Insuring pasture or hay? PRF rainfall insurance for pasture and hay in Lincoln County: its grids, county values and record are on the county PRF page.

Crop insurance record

1997200220072012201720220.933.050.501.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1997 with at least $1,000,000 of premium; a year under that has no bar and no ratio. Above the dashed line, the county's insurance book paid out more than it took in. 2026, still open, is left out.

Claims paid per $100 of coverage, 2016–2025$24.91
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.91claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.96$163.3 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium11 of 29crop years 1997–2025 with a loss ratio
Worst year2002ratio 3.05, of the 29 crop years with at least $1,000,000 of premium
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 64% · hail 20% · wind 8%share of dollars paid

Conservation Reserve Program

1986199119962001200620112016202127,835249,248

Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.

CRP enrolled, 2025249,248 ac49.3% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2027–20290 ac0% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$21/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer

What farms here look like

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20221%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202230% of cropland186,179 ac
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 852.6 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202238,046−10.6% since 2017
Cattle on feed, 2022600head, Census of Agriculture
Hogs and pigs, 2022120head, Census of Agriculture
Farmland rented from others, 202243%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

USDA Census of Agriculture 2022, except wells (state well register) and power (EIA Form 860).

Watch this county

Get an email when the published figures for Lincoln County, Colorado change. Usually once or twice a year. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-tap stop. AGSIST, PO Box 243, Chetek, WI 54728.

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yield, medianClaims per $100
Lincoln County$28n/a$900n/a$24.91
Arapahoe County$14n/a$2,773n/a$18.66
Cheyenne County$32$170 2025$1,28191.7$23.77
Crowley Countyn/an/a$1,003n/an/a
El Paso County$7 2024n/a$2,688n/an/a
Elbert County$29n/a$2,935n/a$23.39
Kiowa County$29n/a$1,238n/a$23.93
Kit Carson County$40$170$1,406102.6$16.47
Washington County$40$214$1,171n/a$20.10
Median next door$31$192 2 co.$1,34497.2 2 co.$21.75

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. A rent from an older survey year carries its year and stays out of the median; one more than three survey years old shows n/a. The corn median here needs 15 published years, so a county with fewer shows n/a even where its own page gives a median.

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Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Lincoln County, Colorado. Figures as of Oct 19, 2026, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/colorado/lincoln-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Rent ranks count every county with a published rent in the same survey year, within the state (the same counties as the state rent page); other ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms. Methods: how each figure is built. Downloads: all counties, CSV.
Sources, dates and arithmetic

"Figures as of" is the date this page's numbers last changed; it moves only when a figure on the page does. Source files and their retrieval dates are listed on the data page.

This product uses the NASS API but is not endorsed or certified by NASS. Averages, trends, ranks and estimates are calculations by AGSIST.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields. The headline trend, the one rent per bushel uses, is fitted here over the published years in the 15 years ending this year; the yearly trend card uses every published year since 2008. Loss ratio: claims (indemnity) divided by total premium, USDA RMA Summary of Business, 1989 on, open crop year left out. Claims paid per $100 of coverage: claims divided by liability (the insured value), times 100, same source. Drought: U.S. Drought Monitor, weeks with half the county or more in D2 or worse. July lows: NOAA nClimDiv county monthly minimum temperature. A missing figure is named with its reason (in a table it reads n/a).