Ouray County, Colorado
Ouray County, CO: irrigated cash rent $40 an acre (2023); land and buildings $2,949 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 08091. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Every irrigated acre in Ouray County draws surface water; groundwater's share is 0 percent. That leaves this land tied to rivers and snowpack, and drought has been a recurring visitor: severe drought or worse hit the county in 342 of 1357 weeks between 2000-2025, with 52 weeks in 2003 alone. The July nightly low has moved from a 48.7 F normal to 49.6 F over 2017-2026, part of a warming trend of 0.62 F per decade since 1976.
too few 2023 county surveys in the state to compare
CO median $2,765 · 24th highest of 58
CO median 30% · 7th lowest of 57
Cash rent
Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.
Land value
Corn yield
Crop insurance record
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Dry rent | Irr. rent | Land value | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ouray County | — | $40 2023 | $2,949 | — |
| Gunnison County | — | $54 | $2,924 | — |
| Hinsdale County | — | — | $3,273 | — |
| Montrose County | — | $138 | $5,909 | $11.28 |
| San Juan County | — | — | — | — |
| San Miguel County | $14 | — | $2,179 | — |
| Median next door | $14 1 co. | $96 2 co. | $3,099 | $11.28 1 co. |
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. Ouray 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/ouray-countyEvery 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.