Rio Grande County, Colorado
Rio Grande County, CO: non-irrigated cash rent $26 an acre (2023); land and buildings $5,672 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 08105. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Irrigated cash rent runs $220 per acre in 2026, and irrigation covers 92 percent of harvested cropland here, with 18 percent of that water drawn from groundwater as of 2015. Non-irrigated rent sits at $26 per acre in 2023, down 16.1 percent from 2011 to 2023. Irrigation failure drives crop insurance losses, $20.6 million of the $54.3 million paid out since 1989, well ahead of heat and drought, which stayed at 2 percent or below in every period after 1989-1999 except 2000-2009 at 4 percent. The loss ratio over 2016-2025 stands at 1.01, above the 0.83 ratio for the full 1989-2025 record. Land values rose 81.6 percent from 2017 to 2022.
too few 2023 county surveys in the state to compare
CO median $155 · 4th highest of 30
CO median $2,765 · 13th highest of 58
CO median $13.57 · 3rd lowest of 31
CO median 30% · 24th 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
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Grande County | $26 2023 | $220 | $5,672 | $6.14 |
| Alamosa County | — | $191 | $4,456 | $8.91 |
| Archuleta County | $21 2023 | $68 2024 | $4,985 | — |
| Conejos County | $36 | $134 | $2,984 | $6.43 |
| Mineral County | — | — | $4,334 | — |
| Saguache County | — | $189 | $2,951 | $6.50 |
| Median next door | $36 1 co. | $189 | $4,334 | $6.50 |
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. Rio Grande 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/rio-grande-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.