Farmland Atlas · county record

Lincoln County, Colorado

Lincoln County, CO: non-irrigated cash rent $28 an acre (2026); land and buildings $900 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 46.6 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 08073. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Lincoln County averages $28 per acre in 2026, up 16.7 percent from 2016. Cropland here is 1 percent irrigated, so the corn yield record depends on rain and heat. The median corn yield 2008-2025 is 46.6 bushels per acre, with 2024 down at 25.8. Heat and drought is the largest cause of crop insurance indemnities at 64 percent of $163.3 million paid out over 1989-2025, and that share has moved from 11 percent in 1989-1999 to 65 percent in 2000-2009, 61 percent in 2010-2019, and 71 percent in 2020-2025. July nights have warmed from a 1991-2020 normal of 57.6 F to 58.6 F over 2017-2026. Wind operates at 852.6 MW; solar operating is 0 MW.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$28/ac
2026 county average
CO median $30 · 9th lowest of 24
Land and buildings
$900/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
CO median $2,765 · lowest of 58
Rent as % of land value
—
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
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$24.91
2016–2025, closed crop years
CO median $13.57 · 6th highest of 31
Farmland rented
43%
2022 census, rented from others
CO median 30% · 8th highest of 57

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; nothing is drawn across it.

Non-irrigated, 2026$28/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+16.7%nominal, $24 to $28
Pasture, 2026$7/ac

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 value— cropland is 38% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

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.

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)

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 1989. 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 29
Worst year2002ratio 3.05
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 64% · hail 20% · wind 8%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

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 years, 2021–202555 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202658.6 °F1991–2020 normal 57.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.46 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September11.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 94% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger5.2 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20221%
Drained by tile, 2022none reported
Farmed no-till, 202230% of cropland186,179 ac
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 FY2026–20280 ac0% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$21/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 20250 MW solar · 852.6 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 202238,046−10.6% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202243%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

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

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. An older rent carries its year and stays out of the median.

Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Lincoln County, Colorado. Figures as of 2026-09-20, 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. Ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms, in the same survey year for rent, within the state. 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.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields, trend fitted here over 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. 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 dash means the record does not carry the figure or the source withheld it; the reason is printed beside it.