Farmland Atlas · county record

Yuma County, Colorado

Yuma County, CO: non-irrigated cash rent $45 an acre (2026); land and buildings $1,580 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 187.2 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 08125. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

Open on the map Compare Printable sheet

Irrigated cash rent in Yuma County runs $290 per acre against $45 per acre non-irrigated, and that multiple has moved from 4.68 in 2009 to 6.44 in 2026, rising. Non-irrigated rent is up 15.4 percent from 2016 to 2026. Groundwater supplies 100 percent of irrigation water, and 52 percent of harvested cropland is irrigated, so the water layer carries most of the weight here. Heat and drought's share of indemnities was 6 percent in 1989-1999, 35 percent in 2000-2009, 31 percent in 2010-2019, and 32 percent in 2020-2025. Hail remains the largest single cause of indemnities at 53 percent over 1989-2025, and the loss ratio over 2016-2025 is 0.87 against 0.71 for the full 1989-2025 record.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$45/ac
2026 county average
CO median $30 · tied for 2nd highest of 24
Cash rent, irrigated
$290/ac
2026 county average
CO median $155 · highest of 30
Land and buildings
$1,580/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
CO median $2,765 · 12th lowest of 58
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
187.2 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 183.3 · irrigated and dryland combined
CO median 120.5 · highest of 6
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$8.73
2016–2025, closed crop years
CO median $13.57 · 9th lowest of 31
Farmland rented
49%
2022 census, rented from others
CO median 30% · 5th highest of 57

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$250$3002010201520202025$33$45 dry$148$290 irrigated

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$45/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+15.4%nominal, $39 to $45
Irrigated, 2026$290/ac
Pasture, 2026$16/ac

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$1,580/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$1,370/ac
Census 2017$1,633/ac
Change 2017 to 2022−3.2%−0.7% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— about 52% of cropland is irrigated (2022 census), so dry rent over the all-land census value is not a yield on anything

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024181.0200.5172.9median 187.2

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

Median, 2008–2025187.2 bu/ac18 published years, irrigated and dryland combined
Recent level, 2021–2025183.3 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2023: 169.5 bu/ac91% of median
Trend, 2008–2025−0.1 bu/ac a year±0.9 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

198919941999200420092014201920240.752.980.661.00: 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$8.73
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.87claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.71$316.7 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium7 of 37
Worst year1993ratio 2.98
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025hail 53% · heat and drought 30% · price decline (revenue policies) 5%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020255400

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, 2000–2025260 of 1,357 weeks19% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks202240 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202557 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202662.0 °F1991–2020 normal 61.4 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.36 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September13.8 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 95% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger7.2 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 202252%
Farmed no-till, 202221% of cropland137,064 ac
Cover crops, 20223% of cropland18,880 ac
19861991199620012006201120162021853273,588

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

CRP enrolled, 2025273,588 ac44.4% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–202818,799 ac7% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$30/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 20252.8 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 2022255,184−3.8% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202249%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Yuma County$45$290$1,580187.2$8.73
Kit Carson County$40$170$1,406102.6$16.47
Logan County$37$234$2,141—$10.23
Phillips County$48$257$2,779138.4$13.16
Washington County$40$214$1,171—$20.10
Cheyenne County, KS$55$170$1,630—$12.61
Chase County, NE$58$258$2,558173.3$7.26
Dundy County, NE$51$237$1,991153.5$10.06
Median next door$48$234$1,991146.0$12.61

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. Yuma 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/yuma-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.